


Pride Twentygayteen

by Mangaluva



Series: The Keyleeverse [11]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: All part of a bigger ficverse but mostly short, Day 26 specifically includes:, Do I have to warn for homosexuality if the title is Like That, Dysphoria, External Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Intersex too, Mahu - Freeform, Medical Phobia, Mental Health Issues, Multi, POV Second Person, Polyamory, Pride Month Create-a-thon 2018, Suicidal Thoughts, There's trans and aces and all sorts up in here so hang on to your knickers girls, Thirty different gender/sexuality themes, Two-Spirit, references to death, references to violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 02:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 16,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15110348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangaluva/pseuds/Mangaluva
Summary: Cheren and Warren's first date.





	1. Day 1: Gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheren and Warren's first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the [original thread!](http://s7.zetaboards.com/Nuzlocke_Forum/topic/11076246/1/) I highly recommend checking it out and all the other good queer shit that was going on there, and a massive shout-out to Jimcloud for running the thread!

“Hey, Carly, where are you?” Warren asked when his sister finally picked up the phone. “If you don’t get here soon, we ain't gonna have time to buy food ‘fore we go into the cinema.”  
  
“ _Yeah, I ain’t comin’,_ ” Carlotta said, before adding a fake cough. “ _I’m, uh… sick._ ”  
  
“Really? You were fine at breakfast… an hour ago,” Warren pointed out. “Are you bailin’ on movie day? Wait, did you get a _date_?”  
  
“ _No, but you did. Have fun!_ ”  
  
“What do you–-what in the hells?” Warren said, staring at his c-gear as Carlotta hung up. The three of them had been having movie day on Valentine’s Day since they were nine, picking the least romantic movie playing at the cineplex in Striaton so they could enjoy the space perks of a relatively empty theatre. Of course, at fourteen, he kinda  _would_  like a date, but–  
  
_Hang on. Why did Carly say–?_  
  
His thoughts trailed off when he spotted Cheren weaving through the couples and triples headed for the cinema. He hadn’t seen Cheren in non-baggy clothes in over a year–-an unfortunate side-effect of puberty hitting before he was old enough for top surgery–-but he must have gotten a binder or something because there he was, wearing a flattering shirt and jacket with his sleeves rolled up and looking  _real, real nice_.   
  
How could Carly drop him in this and then let him out of the house wearing a  _Crobatman t-shirt?!_  
  
“Hi, War,” Cheren said as he approached, tugging selfconsciously at his jacket. “Where’s Carly?”  
  
“She, uh, bailed,” Warren stuttered. The jacket made Cheren’s shoulders look  _real, real nice._  “Sick. She ain’t well. You look well, though. Good. You look goo--great.”  
  
“Oh, um… thank you,” Cheren said, flushing as he folded his arms, unfolded them, stuck them in his pockets, then pulled them out and started fidgeting with his jacket. “It, um… looks alright? I don’t look silly or anything?”  
  
“No! No, no, no, no, no,” Warren stuttered quickly. “You look real nice! Fit right in with all these people dressed up nice for their dates, unlike me,” he added with a weak chuckle.  
  
“It’s a cool shirt,” Cheren said, gesturing. “Is it new? That pose is from last month’s cover, right?”  
  
“Yeah, it’s… new, yeah,” Warren said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Should we, um, go in?”  
  
“If it’s just the two of us, yeah…” Cheren said, fidgeting with his glasses. “Looks like a date, huh?”  
  
“Heh, yeah,” Warren said. Was his head on fire or did it just feel like it? “I mean, if it’s, y'know, weird, or anything, then no, we’re just two best friends going out to a movie without our third best friend, but I mean, it’d be nice, you look real nice, but I mean, if it ain’t, if you ain’t–-”  
  
Cheren cleared his throat loudly, still bright red himself. “That’d be… nice,” he said, holding out a hand. “That’d be real nice.”  
  
Warren swallowed as he reached out to take Cheren’s hand. They’d held hands plenty, of course, playing games back in kindergarten and grade school, summer camp activities, going through crowded streets together, but this was, well, this was  _holding hands_  holding hands. This was different.  
  
This was  _Cheren_ , looking  _real_  nice in a jacket and shirt with all his sleeves rolled up.  
  
His hands were a little sweaty, but so were Warren’s, so he didn’t mention it. It was worth it. 


	2. Day 2: Lesbian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny's first day of police academy.

“ _Jenny! Hello, dear. How was your first day of police school?_ ”  
  
Jenny groaned, flopping down on the grass and holding up her pokegear. “ _Daaaaaaaaaaad_ ,” she whined, “why didn’t you warn me that the women in the police academy were all  _babes_?!”  
  
“ _Well, Jenny, you are attending, so I presumed that you already knew,_ ” her father said with a shit-eating grin. “ _I do hope that you looked at your instructors too, one or two times…_ ”  
  
“You mean the buff older lady with inexplicably gorgeous hair who was lecturing us on duty and social responsibility?” Jenny asked.  
  
“ _Ah, so you were listening? Good, good! Tell Sergeant Summers that Agent Looker sends his love!_ ” her father said brightly. “ _And be cautious if she is your defense instructor. She favours hands-on instruction, and had her mercy surgically removed in the early eighties._ ”  
  
“Not  _helping_ , Dad,” Jenny laughed. “You know, it’s still sinking in that I’m, well… here. I’m going to be a police officer!”  
  
“ _And I am very proud of you!_ ” her father said ebulliently. “ _Not simply because you are joining the police, though I am proud of that too, but because you are pursuing a dream you have held since you were a baby and to you brings much fulfilment! Congratulations! Bonne chance! Chukahae! Que Bueno! Čestitam!_ ”  
  
“Thanks, Dad,” Jenny said, grinning broadly. “I’d better go, I haven’t had dinner yet and I wanna check out the cafeteria. Talk to you later!”  
  
“ _Very good! Eat well! I love you!_ ”  
  
“Love you too, Dad,” Jenny said, blowing a kiss before she hung up, stood up and headed for the cafeteria. The options weren’t terrible and the food was reasonably priced, she was tapped on the shoulder by a tall, attractive woman with short dark hair.   
  
“Hi,” the woman said. “I noticed you in the seminar. Hawkshaw, right? I’m Dalziel.”  
  
“Hi, Dalziel,” Jenny said, picking up her food tray. “Nice to meet you.”  
  
“You got anybody to eat with?” Dalziel said, nodding to Jenny’s tray.  
  
“I do now,” Jenny said with a wink. Dalziel’s grin widened in a way that told her she was right on the money.  
  
Police academy was going to be _good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who don't already know, Jennifer Hawkshaw is officially the gayest character in the Keyleeverse
> 
> Also, since I grabbed the name "Dalziel" at random from Jenny Dalziel, a lesbian cop who turns up in several Chris Brookmyre books, that makes it two Jennies at the police academy for non-anime-referencing reasons. Though I've decided to make it lore that in Unova, cops are often referred to as "Jennies" after celebrated police chief Jennifer Junsar, in much the same way that in real-world Britain cops are sometimes known as Bobbies. Calling an officer "Officer Jenny" applies regardless of their gender or actual name. In-universe, though, Looker was absolutely a nerd who had this in mind when naming his daughter and Melody is an awful enabler.


	3. Day 3: Bisexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caelin has work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about bisexuals: they're not just closeted homosexuals, nor attention-seeking heterosexuals! The more you know! Caelin is flaming tho

The panic and upset from the Battle of Coronet was settling. The dead had been laid to rest. Their young had new carers to hold them when the tides of loss came back in to drown them. New caves had been dug, new patrols allotted, and refugees were returning to their own lands. Peace was settling over the clans of Coronet again, content with their new Lord.  
  
Which was good. It was good that Caelin’s people were back at peace. But peace meant that social norms were no longer suspended for war, and that meant the return of certain… obligations.  
  
“Iona doesn’t seem to have any intent to challenge you, but Indra’s reportedly training his remaining limbs very hard,” Terra commented one morning as they inspected the new caves. “And there’s word that your brother Marcone, though still a Monferno, has been training with the intent to evolve and challenge you. I know how much you dislike this conversation, m'Lord, but…”  
  
“We know, we know… the sooner we select a consort and produce an heir, the sooner we will have some peace from challenges,” Caelin sighed. Whenever the unwanted question arose, she found her fingers drifting to the preserved rose she wore on her crown, a remnant of something she would not allow herself in the name of the crown.  
  
She had chosen her crown above all else. She had to do her duty. But the Infernape from noble lineages were all so _boring_. Not a one of them had ever even left the mountain.   
  
The last chambers to be completed were her own-–she’d been rushing about so much, with so much to do, she hadn’t had time to sleep there anyway. Several non-noble Monferno and Infernape had carved it out, and bowed deeply and began to scuttle out as she strode into the room. One Inferno–-newly evolved, surely, his head flame was barely there–-lingered behind to point out the carvings that they’d made, depicting her battles against Galactic.  
  
“No,” she interrupted him midway through the description. “There were many we lost along the way who we ought to honour, not just those who fought to the end with us here. Sean. Kel. Merida…” Her fingers rose to the preserved flower again. “Belle.”  
  
“I see… you wear that in their memory,” the lingering Infernape said, holding out a stone. “I thought to offer you this sapphire we found, for it matched your flower, but if you prefer, it could be made part of the carving?”  
  
“Do so,” Caelin said, examining the sapphire. It was indeed the colour of Belle’s surviving flower, a last piece of her that had not burned in defence of Caelin’s life. “They all deserve jewels,” she murmured. “But Belle… I owe her more than my life. I owe her for the ardent love I could not return to her…”  
  
“I didn’t hear anything, m'Lord,” the Infernape said smartly, “but I would like to hear more about your lost companions, so that I can represent them properly in the mural. If it is not too forward to ask, can you tell me about them?”  
  
“I have time to do so,” Caelin agreed, pressing the sapphire back into his hands. “What is your name, artist?”  
  
“Michael, m'Lord,” the Infernape said with a bow. “I am honoured by your time, m'Lord.”  
  
“We are honoured by your art, Michael,” Caelin said with a smile. The mural was indeed beautiful, just… incomplete. Michael smiled proudly back. He was handsome, apparently untouched by warfare, basking in the delight of his art. He’d noticed the colour of the flower; she could have faith in him to do Belle, and all the others, justice.  
  
“The first was Sean, a Starly…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda headcanoned that Caelin had a little thing back for Belle, but never expressed it due to her position... but I'm not sure that I ever wrote that very well XD (Why am I calling this a headcanon when it's MY fic)


	4. Day 4: Polysexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bri goes Valentine's shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters belong to [Isis_The_Sphinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis_the_Sphinx/pseuds/Isis_the_Sphinx)!
> 
> Polysexuality, according to Jimcloud: "Now, for those of you who don't know the definition of this, it's labeled as attraction to multiple, but not all, genders. That puts it between bisexuality and pansexuality, which makes it fitting for the day between the two."

Brienne looked carefully over the pieces in the window, then back to her wallet, doing some mental math.  
  
“ **Are you okay, Mom?** ” Kanaya asked, the Gardevoir’s skirts ruffling as she put a long green hand on her trainer’s arm. “ **You feel stressed**.”  
  
“Capitalism is evil, Kanaya, and commodifying love is a sin,” Brienne said, closing her wallet and heading for the shop’s doors.   
  
“ **Soooo… why are we going shopping for Valentine’s Day presents?** ” Kanaya asked in confusion, following her into the shop.  
  
“Because as much as I want social change, I also want to get laid,” Brienne said, smiling at the approaching shop assistant. “Hi, I wanted to look at some of the jewellery in your window?”  
  
“Of course!” the assistant said brightly, heading over to the window and pressing her hand to the palmprint detector, causing the glass to slide back. “We also provide free, matching cards with any of our specialty pieces. Are you shopping for a lady, gentleman, andry, enby…?”  
  
“Yes,” Brienne sighed, clutching her wallet. “There are four pieces I’d like to see…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ssssssh ignore why Valentine's day would be called that if Christianity is not an in-universe religion


	5. Day 5: Pansexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burgh's date does not end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pansexuality, according to Jimcloud: "This is a pretty commonly known sexuality, but just for the sake of argument, let me define this one: it's for people who are attracted to people regardless of gender."

Elesa had already pressed the button to open the lobby door, rolled out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown before really gaining consciousness. They checked the time–-1am, they’d meant to get an early night before opening their new gym tomorrow, but clearly that was shot now–-smoothed down their bedhead and went to peer through the stylish, one-way pokeproof stained glass in their door to see who came out of the elevator. There were a limited number of people who knew where they lived, an even smaller subset of which would stop by at this time of night, and a minimal number they’d automatically buzz in.   
  
They nodded to themself when Burgh stumbled out of the elevator. They probably hadn’t even looked at the screen before buzzing him in; Burgh tended to ring doorbells to the rhythm of the opening beats at the beginning of Cobalion Dior shows, and they probably had it hardwired into their limbic system at this point. They went over to the sink to pour a glass of water, leaving him to let himself in.  
  
“Wow,” they said when they caught sight of his broken nose, blood smeared over his mouth and chin, and threw a wad of paper towels at him. “Give me a minute to pour you a bag of ice. So, was it your partner or somebody else’s?”  
  
“Anje left me,” Burgh whined, turned on Elesa’s kitchen tap and sticking his head under the cold flow while he dabbed at the sticky blood. “I told them, I was just schmoozing, all artists do it, we’re either cave-dwelling paint gremlins or super affectionate because we have too many feelings, ‘you don’t seem to have too many feelings for ME when we’re out together’, I said I have a lot of feelings for EVERYBODY, this was the wrong response, we starting fighting…” He gestured at his face. “You see how it ended.”  
  
“This is why I keep telling you to stop dating models,” Elesa said, patiently watching their fridge churn out ice cubes into a plastic bag. “Modeling is a very stressful career. We’re all simmering bundles of barely contained rage. And I’ve already forgotten what shape your nose originally was. Did you come here because it’s closer than your place and you just needed ice and sleep as soon as possible, or do you need tea and sympathy too?” They shoved the bag of ice at his face.  
  
“Tea ad sympafee, blease,” Burgh mumbled, giving them his world-class Baby-Doll Eyes over the bag. “And, if I’m single again… do you have Samantha’s number?”  
  
“Excuse me? Have you been blind for a week? How did you miss out on _her_ horrible breakup?” Elesa said, filling the kettle. “Not a chance. What about Piotr? He’s newly single and has _all_ of the feelings.”  
  
“You,” Burgh said, pointing a finger at Elesa. “I like you.”  
  
“Of course you do, darling, I’m the best there is,” Elesa said smoothly. “Matcha or chai?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elesa really took over my Pride month tbh


	6. Day 6: Omnisexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local God Hears The Voices Of His Believers, Is Not Impressed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omnisexuality, according to Jimcloud: "It's very similar in nature to pansexuality, in that both orientations form attraction to people of all genders. The main difference, from my research, seems to be that pansexuality is more gender-blind, whereas omnisexuality notes the genders but is just attracted to all of them."

“That’s it,” Steven declared, starting to unbutton his coat. “I’m going to fight them.”  
  
“No, you’re not,” Riley said, starting to redo buttons.  
  
“Except that I AM,” Steven insisted, gesturing angrily at the chanting protesters. “I never even  _noticed_ these people before I had human ears! God ears can hear everything on earth at once and these assholes NEVER rated anything resembling attention! And right now I can hear them and would like to  _not_ , thank you very much!”  
  
“Steven, _nobody_  takes them seriously, everybody knows that sect just talks angry nonsense… or yells it,” Riley said soothingly.   
  
“Look at that board, though–-’Arceus created marriage between a–-’ Don’t blame ME for this! Marriage is a HUMAN invention!” Steven yelled in frustration. “And a very nice one,” he added to Riley with a wink. “But–-listen to this shit-–now it’s all ‘Arceus created LOVE to be-–’ I DIDN’T! That shit’s even BETTER because it creates ITSELF! A miracle out of NOTHING!”  
  
“What is he yelling about?” Cynthia asked as she approached her struggling husbands.  
  
“Those assholes don’t speak for me!” Steven raged, pointing at the demonstrators.   
  
“Okay, so you could yell and throw a tantrum, which, need I remind you, no longer causes the very mountains to tremble,” Cynthia said, straightening his cravat, “orrrrrrrrrrr we could tip off the police that this ‘religious event’ is a completely unsubtle public hate crime. And  _maybe_  Godiva could let off a teeny tiny earthquake just to see them all fall on their asses. Okay?”  
  
“…I’m just  _saying_ ,” Steven grumbled, “it makes no  _sense_. Why do they hate people kissing so much? All kinds of people kissing are _great_. I mean, if kissing isn’t  _your_ thing, just  _say_  that, but stop claiming _I_ said it, I like all  _kinds_  of kissing…”  
  
“We know,” Riley said, tugging him away by the arm. “Shall we get a little further away before Cynthia lets Godiva out?” 


	7. Day 7: Ceterosexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elesa has an evening in with their partner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ceterosexuality, according to Jimcloud (I'd never heard of this one before): "For those not in the know, ceterosexual refers either to anybody exclusively attracted to non-binary individuals or non-binary individuals exclusively attracted to non-binary individuals. I also ran into a lot of shit about fetishizing non-binary individuals while looking it up, so I'm going to go with the latter definition to be on the safe side."
> 
> I also opted to err on the side of caution; both people in this are NB.

“Oh,” Elesa said, switching from idly answering fan mail to her publicity inbox. “Well, would you look at  _that_.”  
  
“What is it?” Riley asked, pausing the movie and craning their head back against Elesa’s shoulder to see the model’s c-gear screen. “An invitation?”  
  
“To a  _diplomatic gala_  in Castelia,” Elesa said, tipping their screen to make it easier to see. “I hope they’re not planning to pass me off as a politician. The competitive League might be run part-time by politicians in the Tohjo Union, but I’m an _entertainer_.”  
  
“Do they know you speak Fairlan?” Riley asked, snuggling down a little so Elesa could move their arm into a more comfortable position. “Maybe that was a reason?”  
  
“I mean, it’s not a secret that Uncle Matis is a Leader in Kanto, but I’d think they’d keep away anybody who can speak to the Fairlan Champion without a translator,” Elesa mused. “Whatever. It’s a month away, I’ve got time to design an outfit that makes a  _statement_. Could I tempt you to a matching set?” they added, giving Riley a peck on the cheek.  
  
“Mmmm… you are  _very_  tempting, but I’ll pass,” Riley said with affected nonchalance. They were snuggled so close that Elesa could hear their poor, anxious heart racing at the distant prospect of being at a large party, let alone one with _serious_ political pressure. “Hey, if you’re getting to take a date, can I suggest Vivian Deoh? I have a  _need_ to know what was going through her head when she wrote the screenplay for  _A Yungoos Summe_ r, because I cannot  _begin_  to guess on my own. If she’d brought that script to me, I don’t think I could’ve done anything to save it. I think I’d have to mercy kill it on sight.”  
  
“I’ll see what I can do, love,” Elesa promised, giving Riley another kiss on the top of the head. “Now, where were we in the movie?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up this Riley as I was writing this and just randomly picked an androgynous name out of the air and only realized later I already have a character called Riley. Then again, I named a Sentret Steve and a Hypno Daisy so eh. Riley's a script doctor and their social anxiety is WILD, but luckily they and Elesa are in dopy love (they met when Riley got force-marched into attending a dinner celebrating a show they worked on where Elesa guest-starred for an episode and they hit it off when Elesa noticed Riley panicking and snuck them out to go breathe) and any time Elesa needs a date for a formal event, Riley picks out somebody they'd like to talk to if talking to people wasn't so terrifying and gives Elesa a list of questions. Elesa loves their nights out but also loves just getting some time in the quiet, too, and find Riley the most relaxing person in the world.


	8. Day 8: Demisexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saylee and Lucy talk movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Demisexuality, according to Jimcloud: "Demisexuals, if you don't know, experience limited sexual attraction compared to other people, and usually only when there is a strong connection first; it differs some from demisexual to demisexual, but in my experience it's often after a deep romantic connection is formed. They're on the asexual spectrum, and many demisexuals, like many general asexuals, have a limited interest in sex overall."

“ _Hi, cuz!_ ” Lucy said brightly when Saylee picked up the call. “ _How’s life in the Wastes?_ ”  
  
“Just because I said I liked that movie doesn’t mean I’m gonna put up with you talking that way about Kanto,” Saylee said, jabbing a finger at the screen mock-threateningly. “We dress much better than that.”  
  
“ _Good, you watched it!_ ” Lucy said excitedly. “ _Did you watch all of the latest batch?_ ”  
  
“I’m starting to skip anything labelled ‘romance’,” Saylee admitted. “Most of the time they’re just… nonsense? Why do all these people get so obsessed with each other just from seeing each other? Before they even know each other?”  
  
“ _What, you’ve never seen somebody so blindingly hot you’d follow them to the ends of the earth?_ ” Lucy said teasingly.  
  
“…No?” Saylee said. “How can you feel like you’re in love with somebody you don’t even know? I thought it was just some weird movie nonsense, like how much James Bond’s Shiftry uses Bullet Seed without ever running out of energy, except watching terrorists get sniped is more satisfying.”  
  
Lucy looked thoughtful for a moment. “ _…No more sappy romances,_ ” she said. “ _Noted. Hey, is this you saying you_  liked _the James Bond movies?_ ”  
  
“Some of them,” Saylee said, rubbing her temples. “I have  _questions_  about some of the others…”  
  
“ _Ooooh, ask away_ ,” Lucy said, grinning and steepling her fingers.  _“Allow me to more accurately curate your cultural education!”_  
  
“Okay, so, first off, how the hell do you have sex lying on diamonds without tearing half your skin off?” Saylee asked. On the other end of the call, Lucy choked. Saylee grinned and continued, “Secondly…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I just hate writing romantic drama and was still in a fairly confused place regarding my own inclinations back when I started writing Saylee, so I just wanted to work on her relationship with Blue and then say no more about it. But as a result, demisexual is actually a pretty good description for her. (She does have a couple of EXTREMELY lowkey attraction responses to Key joke-flirting on occasion after they've become good friends, because that emotional bond is there, but she and Blue are set for life.)
> 
> Also these women are the future Champion of the Tohjo Union and Mahogany Leader. You two are influential public figures and this is what people would find if your emails were hacked. Memes and over-dissecting movies.


	9. Day 9: Grey-Ace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance talks to dragons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grey-asexuality, according to Jimcloud: "Gray aces exist under the asexual umbrella, and their status can vary widely as it's very nebulous. It's the sort of thing that varies from person to person. Gray aces may experience sexual attraction very rarely, very low intensity such that it's inconsequential to them, or under very specific circumstances - only developing sexual attraction to one or two people in their whole life, for example, or only in some circumstances. It varies a lot is what I'm trying to say."

One of Lance’s first memories was the ethereal glitter of dragonglass–or at least, he imagined it would be, if he’d had any memories that dated earlier than the age of fifteen.  
  
Those in the Blackthorn clan who had worked, fought, travelled and studied alongside dragons their whole lives, and wanted their children to do the same, would take their children into the caves under the mountains every days, down to the lakeside in the Dragon’s Den. Every day, those dragons who had worked, fought, travelled and studied alongside humans at some point in their far longer lives, and wanted their children to do the same, would bring their children out to play on the lake’s edge with the human children. Surrounding the lake were tunnels off to the secret inner caves of the dragons, where no humans ever set foot. The children played together under the glimmering light of dragonglass, which would burn alive any human who touched it, making accessing the caves impossible, if anybody could begin to fathom the depths of disrespect required to even try.   
  
According to the family photo albums and home videos, Lance had gone into the Dragon’s Den every day from the day he was born to the day the Psychic Event had happened, and though his brain could no longer remember any of it, something in his soul felt most comfortable in the cave lit by the gentle blue glow of dragonglass bouncing off of the lakewater, the laughter of children of all species bouncing off the walls around him and mingling with the soft gossip of the adults who were watching over their young.  
  
“What do you think the parents did, back before humans could talk to Pokemon?” Lance said idly, resting his chin on his hand as he watched a Salamance land carefully, shedding excitable young Bagon that had been clinging all over her body as soon as she landed.  
  
“As parents, I’m sure they found a way to gossip anyway,” Draek said, nudging his youngest daughter and her giggly four-year-old playmate away from the water’s edge with her tail. “Hey, when are you gonna hurry up and hatch a couple yourself? Dania’s thinking of looking for a trainer to travel with when she gets a little bigger?”  
  
“As future head of the clan, it could be said that all of my people are my children,” Lance said pompously.  
  
“I bet your grandfather loves that excuse,” Draek said with a smirk.  
  
“Oh, go pay attention to your daughter instead of bothering me,” Lance said, pointing in the direction of a very small splash.   
  
“Dania! STAY OUT OF THE WATER UNTIL I TEACH YOU TO SWIM!” Draek yelled frantically, going to fish the tiny Dratini out of the thankfully shallow lake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sorta-title for this on the forums was "Dragons, Mostly" in reference to that joke goes around asking what asexuals are thinking about instead of sex


	10. Day 10: Asexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saylee's Pokemon get to know each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about asexuals: they're not broken, "frigid" or incapable of love! Asexuality is a complex thing that varies from person to person, but not one of them needs "fixed"!

“So, how long have you two been together?” Skye asked, ruffling her soft, cloudlike feathers as she settled down next to Tobias and Mary. They’d fought together in Sootopolis, but she hadn’t really had a chance to get to know the powerful Togekiss and Ampharos yet.  
  
“Aw, ‘boot… three years or so?” Mary said, nudging Toby with her tail. “Back when this majestic bastart was just a wean in Lee’s arms.”  
  
“And you, as I recall, were  _much_  fluffier,” Toby said with a grin. “I miss the fluff. It was so cute!”  
  
“Oooft, should I be feelin’ threatened?” Mary said, waving a tiny fist mock-threateningly at Skye.  
  
“Be careful when challenging a dragon, dear,” Skye said, spreading her wings as if about to accept the challenge before settling again. “Not that you’ve anything to fear. If anything, he should be worried about me trying to steal  _you_ away.” She winked at Mary, who laughed.   
  
“Nae bird of your oon the now, then?” Mary asked. “Silver tongue like that, shouldnae be a problem fae you!”  
  
“Oh, I had a couple of flings when I was younger, but I wanted to travel, you know,” Skye said with a shrug. “Hard to settle down with anybody when you’ve no desire to settle down. And the only lovely ladies in our entourage either already had a gentleman or simply aren’t interested,” she said, nodding to Nadia, who appeared to be actually napping through the relationship talk. “Okay, Nadia, I got to ask my question, it’s your turn to ask about something of interest to you.”  
  
“So, my best move is Eruption,” the Camperupt said, immediately waking up and shaking out her shaggy red fur in a pantomime of waking from deep sleep. “I can shoot lava from my back and summon it from deep beneath the earth to incinerate my foes. It’s great. How about you?”  
  
“Oh, I  _like_ her,” Mary said, nudging Toby with her tail again. “I’m pretty nifty wi’ the auld Power Gem mysel, actually, and it’s bloody brilliant tae see the surprise on folk’s face when I start flingin’ rocks at 'em…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nadia's ability is Oblivious, so.


	11. Day 11: Polyamory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven, Riley and Cynthia discuss their future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polyamory, according to Jimcloud: "Polyamory, for those who don't know, is people getting involved with multiple people at the same time in a romantic relationship. It:  
> -is not necessarily the same thing as polygamy  
> -does not require everyone involved to be dating each other, but it can"

“Can we even  _have_  kids?”  
  
Cynthia paused, her finger hovering over her tablet. “During the ceremony?” she asked.  
  
“Cynthia,” Riley said, giving her a flat look, which she met with a smirk. “I’m serious. We’re planning to spend our lives together, and we’ve never discussed if those lives can or will include kids.”  
  
“It’s a fair question,” Steven said, swiping aside a few potential venues on his tablet. “Personally, I’ve always figured I’d have to adopt. I don’t know for certain if I’m  _capable_  of having biological children with humans. For that matter,” he added, pointing his tablet pen at his fiancees, “I don’t know for certain what effect Giratina and Jirachi would have on either of  _you_ trying to have biological kids. I’m not averse to having kids, and given my personal history it’d be pretty hypocritical if I was, but if we do, I am definitely in favour of adoption.”  
  
“Yeah, I’ve never really thought about it much, but I think I’d prefer adoption too,” Cynthia said. “For one thing, my boobs are already big enough, thank  _you_ , I don’t need that pregnancy inflation.”  
  
“They sure are a handful.”  
  
“Thank you for your insightful and clearly divine contribution,” Cynthia said dryly. “It’s also about social responsibility. It doesn’t feel quite right to me to bring a new baby into the world when there are still kids out there in need of a home. What brought this up, anyway?” she asked Riley. “I mean, you’re right, it’s definitely something to discuss before you marry people, but did something happen?”  
  
“Not really, just, as you said, it occurred to me the other day that we’ve never talked about it, and, well… ever since I merged with Jirachi, I’ve been particularly sensitive to what people want, whether I’m trying to be or not, and I realized that I’ve never sensed that want from either of you…” He set down the origami paper with a sigh. “I love you,” he stated simply. “Both of you. When the three of us were apart, my life was… colourless. And I’m scared because I do want to raise children, very much, and if you don’t…”  
  
“Riley,” Steven said, setting his tablet down and leaning over to take his husband-to-be’s hand. “What are you sensing just now?”  
  
Riley looked from Steven to Cynthia, his eyes widening. “…You both want kids. But…”  
  
“You can feel people’s deepest, most cherished wishes, and you can pick up their moment-to-moment desires,” Steven said, rubbing a thumb over Riley’s knuckles. “Raising children is not one of my most deeply-held desires. I could live through this life without them and I think I’d be happy. But nor am I averse to raising kids, and a wish that I _do_  hold deeply is to make  _you_  happy. I think Cyn feels the same way.”  
  
“It would be why we’re marrying you, Riley, yes,” Cynthia said, taking Riley’s other hand squeezing it. “Also, I  _insist_  on adopting at least two. Being raised by  _us_  is going to be a strange experience and I don’t want to make any child go through it alone.”  
  
“I think you mispronounced ‘why deny the delight that our parenting is sure to be to all but one child’,” Steven suggested.  
  
“Don’t make me bring up your record in regards to your ‘children’,” Cynthia pointed, poking him in the chest. “You’re lucky that Riley and I are here too.”  
  
“I am vividly aware of that every day,” Steven said, catching her finger and kissing her hand, before pressing a second kiss to Riley’s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diiiiiiiiiiiiiid I ever confirm that Riley is Jirachi's avatar infic yet? No? Woops. Ta-daaaaa! That's what that rock in his house is.


	12. Day 12: Intersex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manami evolves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intersex, according to Jimcloud: "The definition of intersex can be a bit loose and people at times have difficulty agreeing on one solid standard, but the basic idea is that an individual with sexual characteristics that deviate from the norm for either binary biological sex is intersex. Some examples:
> 
> -an individual with an unusual chromosomal status (e.g. xxy)
> 
> -someone with genitalia that do not fit the norm for either binary sex--you've probably heard of hermaphrodites, but they're far from the only examples.
> 
> -someone with unusual sexual development, usually a result of a genetic condition like androgen insensitivity syndrome
> 
> Though I should point out that these are not the only examples of intersex!! I'm just listing shit off the top of my head. 
> 
> Not all intersex individuals consider themselves LGBT, and not all intersex people consider themselves trans, but being intersex does qualify you to both of those labels if you choose to associate yourself with them.

“Oh. Wow. WOW. WOW!”  
  
“Manami? What’s wrong, sweetie?” he mother called, popping out of the water. “Oh, sweetheart! LOOK at you! Alfie, get up here!” she yelled, sticking her head back underwater. “Manami EVOLVED!”  
  
“I’m a Marill! I’m a Marill!” Manami squeaked excitedly, instinctively trying to bounce on her tail and yelping when it skittered out from under her. “Ooft!”  
  
“Well, wouldja look at that,” her father marvelled as he surfaced. “How do you feel, honey?”  
  
“I feel… uhh…” She paused, looking down at herself. “…Different… Something’s… funny…”  
  
“Funny how?” her mother said, bouncing up onto the banking and crouching next to Manami with a concerned expression. “You feel alright, Manami?”  
  
“I…” Manami patted her belly with a frown and her father nodded.  
  
“Ahh, plenty of folks feel a little funny on evolving sometimes,” he said sagely. “Like you aren’t what you thought you were. That’s how you said it felt, isn’t it, dear?”  
  
“Oh, yes, thought I was a boy when I was a kid, never really thought about it until I evolved,” her mother said with a nod.   
  
“So am I… not a girl anymore?” Manami said in confusion.  
  
“I couldn’t tell you, dear,” her mother said, gently grooming her child’s ears. “That’s up to you. Are you?”  
  
“I… like being a girl,” Manami said tremulously. “I can keep being a girl, right?”  
  
“Of course! You’re our beautiful daughter,” her father said, joining in the grooming. “Want us to show you some cool stuff you can do now you’ve got paws?”  
  
“Y…yeah! I’ve got  _paws_  now!” Manami said excitedly, waggling the brand new nubs. “Evolving is so  _weird_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'rill line having a high propensity towards intersex development seems as good an explanation as any for the "gender-switch" some Azurill have when evolving ingame!


	13. Day 13: Transgender Female

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lenora does an interview.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trans folk, according to Jimcloud: "For those of you not familiar with transgender individuals, here are a couple of terminology tips:
> 
> -transgender x or trans x refers to the gender that the individual has transitioned to. You don't refer to someone who is transgender by the gender they were assigned at birth.
> 
> -Related, AFAB and AMAB are acronyms that mean assigned female at birth and assigned male at birth, and are nice to use to refer to a particular sex (for example, talking about AFAB individuals experiencing periods) without excluding trans people.
> 
> -FtM and MtF are similar to transgender boy/girl, and mean "female to male" and "male to female" respectively. I think the directionality of those is simple enough to understand.
> 
> -Transmasc or transfem are for people who have transitioned from their assigned gender to the given, but also includes people who don't fully identify as a given binary gender - nonbinary individuals like demiboys or demigirls, for example, may have transitioned from feminine to masculine or vice versa. It casts a bit of a wider net than just "trans boy" or "trans girl."

“Thank you for granting me this interview, Mrs Hawes,” the reporter said, jogging after Lenora as the much taller women strode through the museum. “I imagine you’ve been inundated with calls after the recent attempted theft. If I can ask, why in particular did you choose to return  _my_  call?”  
  
“You sure can ask,” Lenora agreed. “Now that that’s outta the way, shall we hurry right along to the big question?”  
  
“To the point, as I was warned,” the reporter said in amusement. “Okay. The Dragonite skeleton has been a central display in this museum for over five hundred years. It’s an iconic part of Nacrene City and, frankly, people have tried to steal it before. Yet you’re not only taking it down, but actually sending it back to Johto, where it’s my understanding that it’ll be disposed of?”  
  
“Your understandin’ is off, honey,” Lenora said, shaking her head. They came to a halt by the empty plinth where the Dragonite skeleton had stood for centuries. “It’s bein’ delivered to the dragons in Blackthorn, so they can properly lay the poor thing to rest. Kinda shockin’ it’s been here as long as it has, honestly. We don’t display real human bodies anymore outta respect, but we’re gonna show Pokemon bodies?”  
  
“Are you saying that you follow the Fairlan beliefs, that Pokemon are equal to humans?” the reporter asked, her eyes glinting. Of course they were. Pokemon rights were a hot topic right now, between the Tohjo Champion’s visit and the Plasma Foundation’s latest stunts. She could probably  _smell_  the boost to her byline.   
  
Lenora put her hands on her hips, focusing on the empty plinth. “I’m sayin’,” she said, “somethimes people ain’t what we think they are. And we need to be open to folks bein’ somethin’ other than what we thought they were, human or Pokemon. Else we’re just hurtin’ each other. Bein’ wrong ain’t a crime;  _defendin’_ your wrong at the expense of other people sure as shit  _oughta_  be.”  
  
“So you favour Pokemon rights despite activists from the Plasma Foundation trying to rob your museum and attacking your husband?” the reporter asked.  
  
“Oh, bless your heart, honey, are you tryin’ to get a  _soundbite_  outta me?” Lenora said with a pleasantness that would probably wither all the plant life in the vicinity had they been in Pinwheel Forest instead of the museum. “Why did I call you back, honey? You write neutral. Don’t tend to take one side or another. It’s the best I can get, right now, with half the rags out there saying Plasma bein’ a bunch of fools makes their whole cause invalid and the rest arguin’ that it’s invalid regardless of what nonsense they get up to. I think the world’s a lot more complicated than we give it credit for and I’m always up to learnin’ new things and bein’ compassionate. And Plasma  _are_ a bunch of fools, no doubt about  _that_. That snappy enough for you, hon?”  
  
“I… think you calling me some type of ‘honey’ three times in the same speech is my cue to leave,” the now nervous-looking young reporter said, backing away. “I’d just like to know where you stand. So I know how to balance the article, to keep it neutral. I like to present both sides, as you said.”  
  
“Presenting both sides ain’t bein’ neutral,  _honey,_  not when one of ‘em’s wrong,” Lenora said, unable to help one last snipe at the girl before she fled.   
  
“Well, that was fast,” Marsha, the ticket counter clerk, observed. “You could’ve just not taken the interview if you wanted her out of here that bad, you know.”  
  
“Nah, I want to make a statement,” Lenora said, leaning back against the counter with her arms folded. “This ain’t gonna be an issue with neutral ground left for much longer, and I don’t want folks twistin’ what happened here to say that I ain’t for respectin’ Pokemon just because I ain’t for Plasma’s nonsense. I’m kinda curious to see if she manages to keep the article neutral, really.”  
  
“And if she doesn’t?” Marsha asked, fidgeting with her earrings.  
  
“Then folks know what I stand for,” Lenora said simply. “You’ve gotta stand for somethin’, Marsha. And I like folks to know where I stand.”  
  
“Head and shoulders above everybody else, usually,” Marsha observed. Lenora burst out laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed, this is actually taking place a little while in the future--the theft at Nacrene Museum should take place in chapter 8 of Eternal Enmity!
> 
> Also, when I was thinking about trans women, my brain actually went to Lenora first, because if there's one thing I've learned from studying queer history, it's that when you want to have yourselves a social revolution, trans women of colour are GOD-TIER at getting shit done.


	14. Day 14: Transgender Male

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kalle and Marc talk about their pasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explaining what a trans man is seemed unnecessary after the trans woman explanation, so instead Jimcloud added an explanation of dysphoria: "Dysphoria refers to a kind of malaise trans people experience in relation to their status as trans and the gap between what they want to be seen as and what they feel they're being seen as, or what they see themselves as. I would broadly categorize dysphoria into a couple of different types:
> 
> Body dysphoria is for things physically related to the person that cause them distress. AFAB individuals, for example, may often get dysphoria from their voice (pre-T), breasts, or periods, things like that. For those AMAB, it often comes in the voice as well (and this one doesn't get fixed by estrogen, only voice training), genitalia, and body hair. Potential sources of bodily dysphoria aren't limited to those, mind, those are just some examples.
> 
> Social dysphoria, meanwhile, is usually focused on what other people or society is doing. Not using the correct pronouns, for example, can cause social dysphoria. Broadly speaking, anything that refers to individual as part of the gender they were assigned and/or excludes them from their gender can be a potential cause of social dysphoria, but this is something that varies a bit more widely from person to person.
> 
> The intensity of dysphoria can also vary by the person or the experience, from vague discomfort/unease to moderate distress to full on attacks with results similar to those potentially caused by anxiety attacks. Some people have dysphoria really bad, but also, some people don't experience dysphoria at all! Let me make this clear. You do not have to experience dysphoria or "enough" dysphoria to be trans. If your gender is different from the one you were assigned at birth, that's enough."

“AHH! Dammit!”  
  
“Marc? Are you okay?” Kalle yelled, running across the room and slaloming around a half-dismantled drill to find Marc at the sinks set into the wall, running his left forearm under a tap. There was a big gash in it with a _lot_  of blood. “Dammit, Marc, that’s it, we are hiring an engineer to fix this thing! I don’t care how many PhDs you have, you’re a fucking  _biochemist_!”  
  
“I can write DNA, I should be able to replace a damn cog,” Marc muttered, wincing as blood kept running out of the wound. “Do you think I need to call an ambulance?”  
  
“No,” Kalle said quickly, hating how his voice cracked at the mere allusion to a hospital. “Can you move all of your fingers?” Marc flexed his hand open and closed, flinching but nodding. “Then it’s just a flesh wound. I can do stitches. Here,” he said, opening the cupboard above one of the sinks and throwing a clean towel at Marc. “Hold that on there and wait a minute while I get my kit, okay?”  
  
“Where did you learn to put in stitches?” Marc asked when Kale returned and started unpacking his equipment.  
  
“Did a bunch of first aid and field medicine classes when I first moved to Hoenn,” Kalle said, handing Marc a tablet. “Here. Let this dissolve on your tongue. Painkiller. Should kick in pretty quick.”  
  
“So you’re not from Hoenn originally?” Marc asked before popping the tablet into his mouth.   
  
Kalle winced. They’d been working together for two years and dating for the last ten months, and Kalle loved it, loved  _him_ , but the more serious things got, the more likely talk of the past was to come up. It wasn’t his favourite topic of conversation. Frankly, even as slow as they’d been moving, it was a miracle it hadn’t come up already. “I’m from Johto,” he admitted. “I moved here a few months after… you know.”  
  
“Oh,” Marc said, his face softening. “I can’t feel my arm anymore, by the way,” he added. Kalle rapped his hand a couple times. “Nothing. Stitch away. Can I ask how being from Johto led to you learning field surgery? I mean, if you’d said  _Kanto_ , I’d understand, but… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask about that, should I?” he said when he saw Kalle’s face.  
  
“It’s not something I like talking about much, but… I woke up in a hospital,” Kalle said, focusing on cleaning the wound.  _We have to have this conversation at some point if this is gonna keep going, right? And I_ want  _it to keep going. So. Here we fuckin’ go_. “After the Event, I woke up in a waiting room, surrounded by people screaming and panicking because the first thing they knew in the whole goddamned world was that they were in pain. I saw a surgeon, covered in blood, come running up to the nurses station, cursing out these poor confused nurses because his whole team collapsed in the middle of a surgery and the patient was dying and they couldn’t find anybody who knew what they were supposed to be doing to the poor guy. A woman was in fucking  _labour_  on the floor and had no clue what was happening until the damn baby crowned. Everybody was panicking and yelling and fights were breaking out and I saw a kid dead on the floor because he’d had an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe and nobody was paying attention to him because nobody knew whose kid he was.” His hands were shaking so badly that he sloshed more cleaning fluid over his hand than the fresh cotton swab. “I don’t know what _I_  was there for. I ran. I hope I was there for transition surgery, but for all I know I’ve still got a tumour burning away somewhere and I have no clue because even the  _thought_ of walking into a hospital again is…”  
  
“I’m sorry, Kalle,” Marc said, gently taking the swab and starting to clean off his own wound. “I have to admit, I’ve wondered… I’ve seen you when your dysphoria gets too much, those panic attacks… yet you’ve never medically transitioned or even gone on T. I couldn’t understand it, but I didn’t know how to ask…”  
  
“Marc,” Kalle said, taking deep breaths, “it’s fine. I can handle the dysphoria. I  _can’t_ handle going to hospital again. It’s fine.”  
  
“It hurts you,” Marc said softly. “That’s not fine. I wish I could do something, go pick up T for you or something so you don’t have to go to the pharmacy yourself…”  
  
“Hey, if we were married, you could make and pick up prescriptions for me easily,” Kalle joked. Marc flushed, fumbled the swab and blood started seeping up from the wound again. “Oh my gods, I was kidding, slow down that heart rate right now!”  
  
“Well, good, because this would be an awful way to propose,” Marc said weakly, gesturing to his arm. “Besides, I… I’m sorry for prodding you about your past and… things. Thank you for opening up to me. I’d like to forget  _my_  past, sometimes, but… well, maybe you have the right to know. I’m from Kanto, originally. I left before the Event. One of the last boats out, actually.  _Ran away_ ,” he said bitterly.  
  
“Oh,” Kalle said, setting down the cleaning tools. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. That explained why Marc was never interested in talking about the past either, anyway. Waking up in a panicked hospital after the Memory Event had  _felt_  like Hell; by what scant accounts there were, during the Civil War, Kanto  _was_  Hell. “You don’t have to talk about it,” he said, threading the needle.  
  
“I do,” Marc said, “eventually. I bugged  _you_  about  _your_  past, after all, and… there are things about me you need to know, but I don’t think I want you to know them when you’re holding something sharp.” He closed his eyes, pressing his lips together tightly as he shook his head. “Wouldn’t want you to  _actually_  propose without knowing,” he muttered. “You might not want anything to do with me afterwards.”  
  
“Marc, you’re a _biochemist_  obsessed with  _environmentalism_  who can’t even change a cog without doing himself a serious injury,” Kalle said, examining the wound as he picked out where to put the first stitch. “What deep evil could you possibly have achieved?”  
  
Marc just looked away as Kalle started to sew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trans Kalle is another one of those things that I can't remember if I ever confirmed it infic. Pretty sure I did lay out that Marc was originally a biochemist from Kanto tho.


	15. Day 15: Agender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elesa meets Bianca's dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Now, those of you who aren't familiar with gender shit might be confused as to why agender and nonbinary are both on the calendar for the month, which is fair. So a simple explanation of the difference:
> 
> -nonbinary individuals have a gender identity that does not fit within the gender binary (so not completely male or female)  
> -agender individuals have a gender identity that specifically indicates a lack of a gender. All agender individuals are nonbinary, but not all nonbinary individuals are agender."

“If you think for one second I’m gonna let a  _degenerate_  woman like you tell me how to raise  _my_  daughter–” **  
**

“I’m not a woman,” Elesa said calmly.

“You’re a MAN?!” the stranger sputtered, turning red with fury. “You DISGUSTIN’,  _DEPRAVED_ –”

“Not a man either,” Elesa said, starting to undo their overcoat. It was very delicate fabric, after all. Wouldn’t do to mess it up.

The man went actually  _speechless_  with disgust for a moment, only broken out of it by his daughter–a curvy blonde girl, who Elesa sure hoped really  _was_  a girl because otherwise she was ripe for  _wild_  dysphoria–failing to stifle a giggle, even as she tried to pretend she was just wiping away tears. “If you ain’t a man or woman, what in the hells are you?!”

“I,” Elesa said, sweeping their coat aside with a dramatic flourish that showed off their new jumpsuit to the best effect, “am very,  _very_  fashionable.” They plucked Zack’s pokeball out of the belt, trying not to think about how doing so ruined the symmetry. “I am also an  _extremely_  good trainer, so get the fuck out of my city and take your homophobia with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not how this conversation will go infic (probably), I just had to meme a little


	16. Day 16: Genderfluid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Knife Ridge Scrolls, Fragment ??????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Genderfluid doesn't need too much introduction, I don't think, the concept is fairly simple - someone whose gender identity shifts between more than one gender. The way and frequency of gender shifts depends on the person, by and large, and the pronouns they prefer as well. Genderfluid people are always trans, even if one of the genders that they shift between happens to be their cis gender."

_This fragment is an aside that I have so far been unable to place in the chronology of the Scrolls, though given its content, its placement may be irrelevant to the overall narrative that Ghost was creating. Take it as you will.  
  
~M. M._  
  
I have lived so much of my life inhabiting crafted personas, moving as a man or woman as needs be, sometimes I think that one day I will forget my true name and sex. I will spend too long as the tradesman Kouta, the Lady Rino, the housemaid Mihiro, the artist Haruto, and I will one day go to take off the mask and find nothing left underneath.   
  
I wonder if it would even matter. We are none of us our true selves when we are around others. Merely existing around other people is a performance. Men carry themselves differently around men than they do around women, while women walk differently when passing men to whom they are attracted as opposed to men they despise. No man speaks to his superior officer as he would to his wife, and no woman speaks to her friends the way she would to her husband. We create one self to show to our family, another to our friends, yet another for our lovers. Who we are to our children surely haunts us all. Do any of us know our true selves?  
  
Perhaps, sometimes, when I have a choice in disguises, there is a preference. Some masks are more comfortable than others. Sometimes the woman’s walk comes easier than a man’s expressions, and sometimes a man’s speech feels truer than a woman’s touch. I am a mystery even to myself. Perhaps that is a success, given what I have made of my life.   
  
If I am ever only myself, surely it is with my Pokemon. They have no human social values. I need perform nothing to them. How I wish I could be so free with you. Once I had hoped I could be, until I first saw you and understood--  
  
 _The damage to this fragment that separated it from the rest has also rendered the rest of it unreadable. This obviously sheds no light on the mystery on Ghost’s identity, though it may shed some light on_ why _it is a mystery. Most interesting, to me, was the hardest part to translate because I had not, at this point, encountered it; a second-person pronoun, and a specific one at that, directed to a single person, not plural, and a close person at that. These are not stories being thrown out to history’s whims. This story was for a specific person._  
  
I can only hope that further work translating the rest of the scrolls will shed more light on the identity of the addressee, and through them, something concrete on the Ghost themself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everybody trying to figure out Ghost's gender, it is indeed genderfluid, though they don't have a modern understanding of gender to phrase it in those terms. Ghost's assigned-at-birth gender, what they would think of as their "true" gender, will turn up later, but for now, ta-da!
> 
> Not that that's the biggest bombshell in here... ;)


	17. Day 17: Bigender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skyla's wife's nickname is "Short'n'Sweet", just like this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "It might seem a bit strange to think of bigender when genderfluid exists, but the idea is that a bigender individual experiences two genders either simultaneously or varying between the two of them. Where genderfluidity is characterized by changing over time, bigender has a bit more steadiness to it."
> 
>  
> 
> Hey, on my own account, before going into this, I would like to state that I am not Native American and my understanding of Two-Spirit people may be off, so if I'm depicting either Two-Spirit or bigender identities wrong, as always, please let me know!

"Morning, wife," Skyla said, leaning down to kiss the back of the petite psychic's neck.  
  
"Morning...  _husband_ ," Belle giggled, taking in Skyla's hairstyle. "Need to man up today?"  
  
"Gives me a little boost when it's time to negotiate shipping contracts," Skyla said, leaning down on his much shorter wife's shoulder to see what tea she was steeping. "The Braviary feathers really fuck 'em up sometimes. But I might wife out for date night tonight. You got a preference?"  
  
"I prefer you," Belle said, turning around to kiss Skyla. "Always you."  
  
"Love you too," Skyla said, kissing her back. "...But for real, I look absolutely amazing in both the blue dress AND the new waistcoat, and this is a very real struggle for me."


	18. Day 18: Trigender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hala talks to his grandson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Trigender day today! As you can guess, this is pretty similar to bigender, it's just a matter of at least one non-binary gender being involved (possibly more, though - bigender and trigender don't necessarily have to include male or female.)"
> 
>  
> 
> Similar note to the last one--I am not from Hawaii and my understanding of māhū may be off, so if I am depicting either māhū or trigender identities wrong, please let me know!

"Tutu, what does māhū mean?"  
  
Hala was speechless for a moment as he stared down at his youngest grandson. It was the first time the five-year-old had spoken to his grandfather in a week, ever since he'd seen Hala losing his temper at that tourist. He'd been sick with worry that Hau would be scared of him forever and would never want anything to do with him again, yet here the child was, tugging on Hala's coat like nothing had ever happened.  
  
Hala swept the boy up to rest him on his hip, a weight released from his heart at the sound of Hau's giggle. "Well, Hau, I am māhū."  
  
"I  _knoooooow_ ," Hau said, rolling his eyes at the  _idea_  that something so obvious would have to be explained to a big, grown-up five-year-old like him. "That's why you're kahuna, an' you tell all the stories an' stuff. Kai said you've  _gotta_  be māhū to be a kahuna. But what's it  _mean_?"  
  
"Well... You have your papa and dada, and they have the spirits of men," he explained, bouncing the boy gently. "And your cousins Rosa and Mia and aunt Tiare and so on, they have the spirits of women. And your cousins Rylee and Chase, they have spirits of en. But I, myself, have three spirits, man, woman and en, and because I have three spirits, I can be many things to many people, whatever the people need of their kahuna, and whatever the land needs of me. It is a very important thing, to be māhū, to transcend, you see? That is why I am the kahuna!"   
  
"Wooooooowwwwwww," Hau said, patting his grandfather's chest as if trying to feel out the spirits within. "That's why you're so big, because you have so many spirits!"  
  
Hala laughed so hard that Hau giggled as he was bounced on Hala's heaving stomach. "Maybe so, little one, maybe so!"


	19. Day 19: Pangender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looker dads his own reincarnation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "If three genders is a lot to handle, pangender is a whole other story - pangenders experience gender all across the spectrum, as I understand it."
> 
>  
> 
> Also, sorry, canon, can't hear you being WRONG about Looker not adopting Emma over the sound of his intense dadness

"Papa?" Emma said, tapping Looker on the shoulder.  
  
"I'm awake!" he said immediately, sitting bolt upright. "I am not an old man who falls asleep during the day!"  
  
"I know you aren't, Papa," Emma said, rolling her eyes. "I think you just turned up on the couch. You should go speak to you. I'm going to the movies with the gang. See you later!"  
  
"Have fun, dear," Looker yawned, standing up and trying to disguise a sleepy stretch as a wave goodbye. Then he went over to the kitchenette to turn on the coffee machine before finally going over to the couch to see who had dropped out of time.   
  
The lanky, black-haired man was lying on the couch, one hand held up in the air, staring vaguely at it as he waggled his fingers. "Hello, Bel," he said. "Sorry to drop in on you like this, but you are always very supportive and I thought it would be nice to speak to you face-to-face for real."  
  
Not  _himself_ , then, but he couldn't blame Emma for the confusion; Dialga did apparently like to choose his own reincarnations as future avatars. He wasn't sure if this was economical of a god capable of perceiving the whole spectrum of time, laziness on that same god's part, or an elaborate prank that he would continually play on himself. "Hmmm... you aren't William," he noted.  
  
"Ben," the other man said. "I do not think we have met before, though I know you, of course." He gestured to his head. "And... many, many others. That is what I wondered. I think it is changing me to have all of these people in my mind. People who are  _me_  now."  
  
"I hope your predecessor warned you of this," Bel said, going back over to the beeping coffee maker. He didn't bother to ask Ben's coffee preferences. He could make a very good guess.  
  
"She did, but... I do not think I understood," Ben said. "What it is, to not only have a god in your mind, but so many other people..."  
  
"I think perhaps you are not thinking of it correctly," Bel said, bringing over two cups of coffee and handing one to Ben. "I am perhaps not the best to ask--I am the first avatar, after all. I am only myself and Dialga. I have no echoes. I am sure it is much more overwhelming for you. But I am not sharing my head with Dialga. Dialga is me now, and I am Dialga, and to try to separate what we are will only cause pain and confusion. I am sure I am different now than I was before Dialga, but we are all changed by those who enter our lives, if not our heads!"  
  
"I suppose I am afraid that I can no longer be  _me_ ," Ben sighed, sipping his coffee. "I find myself singing Brienne's songs, when before I did not sing. I have craved William's favourite foods." He stared down at his coffee. "I... liked my coffee like this anyway. But..." He looked up, intently studying the lines of Bel's face. "Was that you too? What is  _me_?"  
  
"All of that  _is_  you, Ben," Bel reassured him. "You are not all of us now. We are all you. A new you, a different you, to be sure, but still  _you_. A you who is  _everything_. Enjoy it! Embrace all that you are! You are not being diminished or replaced, Ben! You are so great! That is to say, so big, and also wonderful!"  
  
Ben laughed. "It's true," he mused. "You ARE somehow even more supportive in person. I had not thought of things that way around."  
  
"See? You are not merely a me substitute after all, or you would have thought of it," Bel said, waggling an admonishing finger at him. "Now, would you like some breakfast before you go back to your own time?" He paused for a moment as his sense of time nagged at him. "Lunch?" He corrected himself. "I am sorry. I am an old man who falls asleep during the day after all. It seems that even I can lose track of time..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about avatars: a dozen or so iterations down the line they either need to choose pangender/pansexual avatars or folks who are fine with their gender and sexuality migrating somewhat as a result of merging with an entity with no concept of gender who has previously merged with many people with many different genders and sexualities. Adds an interesting new dimension to the whole thing.


	20. Day 20: Genderqueer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Tyra talks to her first teammate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Genderqueer just refers to a gender identity that doesn't quite fit into the normal binary - in that regard, it's similar to nonbinary, but from what I'm looking at genderqueer seems to indicate a less strictly defined gender identity than one you might find in nonbinary, and overall seems to be a bit looser as a term when used."
> 
>  
> 
> I figure Silver's first catch after Tyra was his Gastly--looking at his team lineup in Azalea, I figure he caught the Gastly in Sprout Tower and the Zubat in Union Cave.

“I’m watching you, spooky,” Tyra growled under her breath once Silver had curled up with his eyes closed. The exhausted kid drifted off to sleep pretty quickly so long as somebody was keeping watch, and now he didn’t just have Tyra, but Gareth, too. She wasn’t sure if this was a good thing yet. “You stay out of his head, got it?”  
  
“What? C’mon, he’s a kid,” the Gastly said, rolling his huge eyes. “Do I tell you not to go around chomping on people with those big jaws of yours?”  
  
“Well, you’re a _ghost_ ,” Tyra grumbled. “You’re  _dead_. I don’t even know what you were when you were alive. For all I know, you were something  _really_  creepy, like a Hypno or something…”  
  
“I was a Pidgeotto,” Gareth said. “Next question?”  
  
Tyra blinked at him for a moment, surprised at how easy it was to get an answer. “You remember?”  
  
“Sure I do!” Gareth said, almost looking affronted. “I mean, it was a while ago, but it’s not like I’ve gone anywhere since. Honestly, that’s why I want to come with you and the kid. Maybe it’s what I need, y’know?”  
  
“Okay, so… was your name really Gareth?” Tyra asked, casting about for a question. She hadn’t really been expecting this opportunity.  
  
“Nah, but I once met a Geodude named Gareth and I thought he was a cool dude with a cool name, so.” Gareth smirked, and a Gastly smirk could even outdo a Totodile. “I mean, when I say it’s been awhile, I’m not even totally sure I was a guy, but whatever, right? Doesn’t really matter to me. I’m a ball of gas and memories now. I can be whatever I feel like being.”  
  
“…Well, so long as you feel like being somebody who can help me protect Silver, I don’t care,” Tyra said. “You  _can_ protect him, right? I mean, you  _died_. Were you any good at protecting  _yourself_?”  
  
“Hey, lightning strikes can happen to anybody, which you should definitely be more worried about,” Gareth pointed out. “Why are you so into protecting the kid, anyway? I mean, I don’t blame you, I didn’t know humans let ‘em out of the nest that small…”  
  
“I’m tough,” Tyra said firmly. “I can protect him from  _anything_. I  _will._ ” She looked down at her trainer. He was bigger than her, sure, but by human standards, still pretty small. He was less than half the size of Professor Birch. “Somebody’s gotta,” she muttered. “I don’t think his parents would. He said he doesn’t need ‘em and he won’t say anymore, but I think he needs  _somebody._ ”  
  
“And that somebody’s you?” Gareth asked.   
  
“Who else is it gonna be?” Tyra said, looking around.  
  
“Well… me, now, I guess?” Gareth suggested.  
  
“Y’know what?” Tyra said, attempting to pat Gareth and giving up when her claw just went through unpleasant, cloying mist, “I think you and me are gonna get along just fine. Just give me a shout anytime you feel like changing names or whatever, okay?”  
  
“Sure. I’m changing my name to Your Most Magnificent Eminence. That’s how you have to address me now.”  
  
“Don’t push it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silver's team is a gang of beloved assholes who I don't write enough, but always enjoy. Their entire dynamic is that they're all assholes, but slightly different types. They roast each other constantly but if anybody ELSE tries to drag any of them--HOOBOY. Also they are all super protective of this one smol anger boy even after he gets less smol and angry in the fullness of time and more capable of protecting himself. Tyra's the least asshole and most protective because the Totodile line are the pitbulls of the Keyleeverse apparently


	21. Day 21: Demigirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scarlet and Amber, when they're a bit older than they are now (in Eternal Enmity)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Demigirl is a nonbinary gender identity that's located between a female gender identity and an agendered gender identity on the spectrum. It applies to someone who only loosely identifies as female; often this applies to those who feel disconnected from a female identity, but do not experience enough discomfort or dysphoria to merit, in their view, identifying as agender. It can also apply to those who were assigned male at birth and have transitioned to a nonbinary identity that they find leans femininely, but do not wish to identify fully as female. She or they pronouns are usually fine!"

“Do you think binders are comfy to wear?”  
  
Amber paused, then set down her c-gear. It was increasingly rare that she did that. She was taking so many more classes online this year, determined to graduate high school early, and always seemed so  _busy_. “I’m sure they’re made to be,” she said carefully. “Why, are you thinking of wearing one?”  
  
Scarlet wondered if she could get away with claiming it was for a role she was interested in. Probably not. Amber was halfway her agent and knew about every script that came her way. “Just… wondering, sometimes,” she said, picking at her nails. “I mean, most of the time I think I’m just being silly. I’m a  _girl_. But then some days I wonder… what if I’m not? And you remember what Lenora said: If you’re asking yourself the question…”  
  
“You already know the answer,” Amber said. “Sounds like you don’t know, though. Or do you? I mean, you’re my best friend, obviously I don’t care what gender you are, I totally support you–”  
  
“I don’t know,” Scarlet sighed with a shrug. “Today’s one of those days. I don’t think I’m a guy. I just sometimes wonder if I’m all the way a girl. Maybe? I don’t know.”  
  
“Okay, that’s a whole chunk of confusion,” Amber huffed, tucking her hair behind her ears. “Gimmie your c-gear.”  
  
“Why?” Scarlet asked, not hesitating to do so. A little bit of relief was unfurling inside of her. Amber  _always_ seemed to know what to do.  
  
“Okay, do you use a period tracker…? Oh, yeah, I remember recommending that one to you,” Amber said, tapping away on the screen. “Okay, I’ve downloaded a different one and I’m retitling the app ‘gender tracker’ on your gear, okay? Any time you feel… not like a girl, tap that button and… well, the little cartoon Gorebyss’ll still say your period started but ignore that. Tap it again if you wake up feeling like a girl. You’ll get a tracker chart that the feeling’s real and happens and how frequently it happens and stuff and… I dunno, wanna go shopping for a binder anyway? Just to see?”  
  
Scarlet looked down at herself, making a face. “Nah, it’s not like I’ve got anything to bind yet anyway. I dunno, the thought just kinda hit me that maybe I’ll have to wear one one day because, like, I don’t  _hate_  the thought of having boobs all the time, but sometimes maybe I don’t wanna look like a girl, I dunno…”  
  
“You know what? You’ve got a good point. Worry about it later, when you’ve actually got something to bind,” Amber said, patting Scarlet’s flat chest and picking up her c-gear again. “Which might be never, if you take after your mom.”  
  
“Aaaam _yyyyyyyyyy_ , don’t jinx me…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those days where I read the description and discussion from people who are demigirls and thought "huh, that fits Scarlet pretty well"


	22. Day 22: Demiboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver has questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Everything I said about demigirl applies to demiboy, except just, like, in reverse. Once you have one the other is a nearly identical concept."

“Wait, hold on… what’s  _this_  number, again?” Silver said, flicking through pokegear screens.

“Your health insurance, champ,” Byron said patiently. “You need it whenever you go to the hospital, which I know  _you’re_  gonna try to avoid as much as possible, but just in case, that number’s how they know your medical records, that they’re sealed and that you need to see specific specialists.”

“Ugh,  _fine_ … why do I need so many different numbers?” Silver groaned, flicking around his pokegear some more. “What’s  _that_  one?”

“Tax number, which you don’t have to worry about just yet,” Byron assured him, “but it’s worth knowing what it is. You won’t be a kid forever, after all. You’re gonna be a man someday and have to spend all day filling in forms like the rest of us.”

“Mmmm… nah,” Silver said idly, flicking through some more digital ID info. “I’ll pass on being a man.”

“…Okay?” Byron said, staring at his stepson, nonplussed. “Is it okay if I ask what you’re planning on being?”

“I dunno… not a  _man_ ,” Silver grumbled. “Mum and Dad were always all ‘man up’, ‘be a man’, whatever, when they meant ‘be an asshole’. You’re fine,” he added quickly. “I’m sure being a man is fine if you’re not an asshole. But I always knew the whole ‘man’ thing wasn’t really for me. Maybe a guy? That sounds fine. I dunno, Ho-oh’s gotten along fine for an asslong time without any kind of gender at all, and, I mean, that’s not me either, but it’s pretty cool…” He looked up, a trace of anxiety finally entering his face, that little fear of  _doing something wrong_ that was rarer over time but never fully gone. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

He hadn’t lived with his birth parents since he was eight. Byron tried to fathom telling an eight-year-old to ‘man up’, then figured it was fine that he couldn’t. “Absolutely fine, champ. Thanks for giving me the heads-up. So, when you’re a grown-up guy and have to pay taxes, do you know what they’re for?”

Silver groaned and thumped his head down on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this was pretty much me reading the description and discussion and going "huh, yeah, that works"


	23. Day 23: Androgyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bertha, Lucian and Flint met Aaron for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Androgyne is a non-binary gender identity that is associated with androgyny - androgynes will often make an effort to present as androgynously as possible (non-binary individuals don't necessarily need to present androgynously in order to qualify as non-binary, after all!) as part of their identity. It's not too difficult a concept if you're already familiar with the idea of androgyny."

“What do you think they’re like?” Bertha said, idly tapping away on her tablet. Bertha had been a diligent and lazer-focused Elite for more than thirty-five years, and nobody had ever realized that they had her son’s continuing bachelorhood to thank for that. Now that Byron was finally getting married, she was seldom seen doing anything but planning for it, or emailing her grandchildren-to-be in a determined effort to get to know them. Frustratingly, she still managed to handle all her diplomatic work as efficiently and gracefully as she ever did  _at the exact same time_.

“Well all battled them when they did their League challenge,” Lucian reminded her. “They were skilled enough to go from an unknown to challenging Cynthia in less than a year, and it showed.”

“Oh, I don’t mean in  _battle_ , obviously we’re all  _very_  well-versed in those terrifying bugs of theirs,” Bertha said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “We aren’t meeting for lunch today to discuss battle strategies. What do you think they’ll be like to work with? I hope to gods they’re a little more professional than Flint.”

“Hey!” Flint interjected. “Aaron’s  _younger_  than me! They’re an  _undergrad_!”

“Age is no measure of maturity,” Lucian commented calmly. He could  _hear_ Bertha’s suspicious frown as she assessed whether or not that was a double-edged jab aimed also at her, but didn’t say anything before there was a knock on the door of their private room in the cafe and a waiter walked in.

“Aaron Ryo,” he announced, bowing in the newest of Sinnoh’s Elites.

They were already fairly short and slender, and the fact that they were wearing a baggy tank top with cargo pants just made them look even  _younger_. They waved in greeting, then reached for their pokeball belt.

“You’re fine, dear, we’ve all studied sign language, since quite a few opponents use it,” Bertha said, signing along with her spoken words to prove her point.

“I mean, plenty of ‘em are deaf or mute, but there’s also some folks who learn it because communicating silently with their Pokemon give ‘em an edge… so they think,” Flint said with a smirk. “Nice to meet you properly, Aaron. Be nice to have some new blood around here instead of being stuck with these stuffy old folks and Cynthia.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Aaron signed before shaking Flint’s hand. After their hands were free, they added, “without you blasting any fire at my face.”

“Hey, that Fire Blast didn’t get  _that_  close to the trainer box–”

“I am sorry, but I can  _hear_  how appalling that outfit is from here,” Lucian interjected. “Just  _what_  are you supposed to be dressed like?”

Aaron raised their hands before pausing, looking uncertain. “Once again, dear, you don’t have to worry,” Bertha assured him. “Lucian’s so psychic I wonder if he’d even use his eyes at all if they worked. Trust me, he knows what you mean to say. That’s the whole problem.”

“He can’t be that good,” Aaron signed, rolling their eyes. “Looking at that suit, I mean!”

“Mauve is  _extremely_  dignified,” Lucian said stiffly, “but dressing like you’re still a seven-year-old bug catcher is  _not_.”

“I was told there’s no dress code,” Aaron sniped, adding an extra flourish.

“Mx Ryo, the disdain coming off of that last sign is so palpable a blind man who  _wasn’t_  psychic could feel it,” Lucian said dryly. “And being an Elite demands no dress code, you are free to express yourself however you wish, but I am still booking you an appointment with my tailor this  _minute_  to express yourself like an  _adult_. No, she will not make you anything mauve,” he added. “It would clash  _awfully_  with that hair.”

“Told you he was good,” Bertha said, smiling and pulling out a chair. “And yes, he is always like this. It’s part of his charm, once you get used to it. And his tailor really  _is_  rather good at giving the customer what they want, even if the customer has no taste whatsoever.” Lucian huffed indignantly while Flint just laughed.

“It’s nice to meet you properly, Sar Bertha,” Aaron signed, throwing in a formal bow for good measure.

“Oh, goodness, do leave the overwrought title out of it and just call me Bertha,” she said, giving them a handshake that reminded them of fighting her Rhyperior. “Glad to have you among us. Oh!” She glanced at her tablet as it chimed with an incoming message. “My grandson emailed me back–well, soon to be grandson! My son’s getting married in a couple of months, and his fiancee’s got the loveliest daughter and stepson already…”

“Settle in, dude, you’re gonna be here for a while,” Flint signed at Aaron behind Bertha’s back. Aaron grinned, sitting down in a chair next to Bertha and reaching for the coffee pot to pour themself a cup.

Three out of four nice coworker was pretty good odds, they figured. And as a bug-type trainer, there wasn’t a chance in hell they were going to let a  _psychic_ intimidate them.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaron was only in, like, one scene of DD and didn't have any spoken dialogue because I couldn't think of anything so I just ran with that. idk what pronouns I referred to them as a the time but ignore that, this is them now, these are the people running Sinnoh


	24. Day 24: Intergender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hau and Hala talk again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Intergender refers to a nonbinary gender identity that specifically feels between male and female, or some combination of the two. It's also used by intersex individuals who feel that it's a gender identity that works for their status as between the binary sexes. There's some kind of drama about the first half of that on account of the second half but?? I'm not here for that in the year of our lord 20 fucking 18."
> 
> Samesies really
> 
> Previous disclaimer applies, I am not Hawaiian or māhū, please let me know if I'm depicting this wrong! Sort of a sequel to day 18, this

“Tutu? How did you know you were māhū?”  
  
Hala had been half-expecting this conversation for a while, ever since Hau had first asked what māhū meant. He’d been thinking carefully about how he would answer.  
  
“How do I know I have arms and legs and a tongue?” he said, picking up his six-year-old grandson, his youngest grandchild, and settling Hau on his knee. “They are a part of me. So too are my spirits, among the many parts that make up  _me_.”  
  
“Oh,” Hau said, chewing his lip. “How did you  _know_ , though?  _When_?”  
  
“Careful,” Hala chided, gently flicking Hau’s bottom lip with a finger. “If you eat your face, you’ll frighten your poor parents.” Hau stuck his tongue out. “As for when I knew… I think, from the time I knew that I was alive, I knew that I was māhū. I did not immediately have the words for who I was, but I _knew_ , deep down, the truth of my soul. It comes to everybody at a different age.”  
  
“How old?” Hau persisted. “How old do you have to be before you know for  _sure_?”  
  
“For some? Very old indeed,” Hala said, shaking his head. “But I… I was five, myself. Younger than you are now. And I understood that I was not just man, but also woman, but also en. One thing that is many things, just like our Alola itself.”  
  
“What about… one thing… that’s sort of… between things?” Hau said, doing his best to mime abstract concepts with tiny, dark hands. “Like… a little man and woman and enby and andry and… and also not, at the same time? Can you be that and be māhū?”  
  
“No two souls are the same, little one,” Hala told him gently. “To be māhū is a little different for all of us who are. But if you know that your spirit is a transcendent thing, and feel that that brings you closer to our land and our world… then yes, Hau. You could be māhū. If you feel in your soul that you are.”  
  
“I… I dunno,” Hau said, leaning against his grandfather, looking oddly pensieve for such a small child. “Does it sound alright?”  
  
“Yes, Hau, it does,” Hala promised, him, stroking the child’s hair. “But you do not need my approval, Hau. Only you can truly know who you are.”  
  
“Yeah,” Hau said, nodding thoughtfully, “but I wanna know if  _you_  think it sounds alright anyway, Tutu.”  
  
“I do, Hau,” Hala promised, smiling at him.  _Them_ , perhaps. “I think it sounds perfect, little one. My little māhū.”  
  
Hau smiled, relaxing against his grandfather’s belly, smiling contentedly until Hala’s hands moved from gently stroking his hair to tickling his sides, sending him into shrieks of laughter and opening up a small war. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On that note, I am also intending to make all of the kahuna and most of the trial captains māhū, given theri cultural importance--does that sound good/terrible to anybody?


	25. Day 25: Nonbinary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blanche and Spark meet for the first time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Nonbinary is a pretty standard concept, but to explain, it's a broad umbrella referring to anyone whose gender identity doesn't fall strictly on the gender binary: strictly male or strictly female. Some people have a specific gender identity with the nonbinary part of the spectrum, and some people identify just as nonbinary. Either is fine, and either is celebrated here today. If you're not sure how to address a nonbinary-presenting individual, asking their pronouns is usually a better idea than asking their gender! Different nonbinary people are okay with different things - it's a spectrum, after all."

Blanche kept compulsively smoothing out their coat as they stepped off of the portpad. They’d  _never_  been out of Saffron before, let alone to  _Viridian City._  Their parents had been fighting about it for weeks, ever since the new education initiative was announced. Free schooling, for all under-18s, that would help them go to good universities in other countries, help them get out into the world outside of Kanto, was not something to be thrown away, their mother had argued.  
  
Their dad had shot back, but  _Viridian_. It’s a scumpit. Even if they  _say_  all the Rockets are gone, how can they know for sure? Why not build lots of schools in different places?  
  
It’s not worth it, with the population so small, their mother had shot back. The Champion’s promised that’ll come later, this is just to get started. They needed to get the nationwide teleport network sorted anyway. And there’s the police headquarters in Viridian now, and the rangers, and the strongest Gym Leader in Kanto, whose partner is the  _Champion_ –  
  
The Champion who’s the  _daughter_  of  _Giovanni_ , their father had argued back. On it went, around and around and around. When the day arrived, though, Blanche’s mother had the upper hand, so they went to the Travel Centre with a couple dozen other anxious-looking kids and stepped off of the portpad in Viridian City.   
  
The letter they’d been given, inviting them to Viridian Elementary School, included a map, but for everybody’s first day of school a bunch of police officers were out, pointing them the way, and there was a steady trickle of other kids to follow. Blanche had always imagined that Viridian must look horrible, from how much their father hated it, but it was so open, nothing like Saffron, which was an endless maze of collapsing buildings. They couldn’t see any buildings more than a couple of stories tall, and all the shops seemed to be under tents out in the open, on the grass, rather than inside buildings. Blanche wondered if they were okay with the three brand-new school buildings that had been built just for kids to sit in all day.  
  
The older kids kept walking down the road, but Blanche followed the younger kids into the bright courtyard of the Elementary school. There was a bunch of equipment out in the yard, a big set of bars like a cage and a bunch of swings and a ton of other things Blanche had seen in old playparks around Saffron, but never like this, upright and brightly-coloured, without rust or broken edges. They were a bit concerned to realize that they were taller than all the other kids around them. They’d had a growth spurt this year and were a bit taller than other kids anyway, but now they were starting to get really anxious. What if they were in the wrong place? What if the letter was wrong, and they were in the wrong school? All of their friends from Saffron were older, so they were going to the middle school–what if Blanche was supposed to be there too–?  
  
“Hi!” Somebody tapped Blanche on the shoulder, and they spun around, startled to see a kid who was actually  _taller_  by a couple of inches, added onto by his spiky yellow hair. “Hey, how old are you?”  
  
“Me? Ten,” Blanche said quickly. The tall kid sagged and sighed in relief.  
  
“Cool,” he said. “I’m nine, but I was starting to get scared I was in the wrong place…” He gestured at the shorter kids all around them. “Mum’s always saying I’m gonna be as big as Dad one day. I guess I see what she means now.”  
  
“Yeah,” Blanche said, glancing around. Other kids were  _staring_  at them. They hunched down a little in their oversized coat. Their mother had made it big “to grow into”, and at Blanche’s current pace that was going to be by the end of the year.  
  
“I’m Sean,” the tall kid continued. “But my dad calls me Sparky a lot. I’m in 4-B. How about you?”  
  
“5-A,” Blanche said, “and I’m Blanche. I’m from Saffron.”  
  
“Oh, that’s cool! I’m from Vermillion,” Sean said, puffing up with his hands on hips hips and a big grin on his face, uncaring that he got even _bigger._  “My dad’s the  _Leader_ ,” he said proudly. “He’s Lt Surge!”  
  
Blanche had seen pictures of Lt Surge. The man was a  _giant_. “That explains a lot,” they muttered.   
  
“Huh?” Sean said.   
  
“You look like him, is all,” Blanche said.  
  
Sean grinned. “Yeah! You look cool, by the way,” he said, pointing at Blanche’s shoulder-length silver hair. “Is that colour for real?”  
  
“It is,” Blanche said, reaching a defensive hand up to their hair. That was another thing their parents fought about. Their dad kept saying Blanche should get a haircut, that their long hair was getting too girly. Their mum said that that that wasn’t a bad thing, that if Blanche liked having long hair, there was no reason they shouldn’t.  
  
Blanche wished they’d stop fighting about everything all day and one of them would just leave already. They hoped it would be Dad, but they’d go find Mum if she left. Kanto had the teleport network now, after all, and they knew how to use it.   
  
“It looks cool!” Sean said brightly. “Are you trying to look like a girl? Oh, shit, sorry, are you a girl?”  
  
Blanche was more startled by the  _swear word_  than anything, but managed to say, “no. Not a boy, either. You shouldn’t swear.”  
  
Sean ignored that. Blanche braced themself for the questions, but instead Sean said, “oh, cool! Are you enby, like my cousin Elesa? They’re not a boy or a girl either!”  
  
“Wait, what?” Blanche said in surprise. They’d only read about being enby on the internet, once wireless connections had been set up across Kanto, and just  _reading_ the description had made the whole world suddenly make sense. They’d never  _met_  anybody.   
  
“Yeah!” Sean had a funky watch with a big screen, and he scrolled through a bunch of pictures until he found one of the most beautiful person Blanche had seen in their life. Their long hair was yellow and white, and they were sweeping it over one shoulder to show off a long blue coat. “They’re a model! Aren’t they cool?”  
  
“ _So_  cool,” Blanche said in awe.   
  
“Hello, everybody!” a Kangaskhan called, cupping her hands around her mouth as she called out to the assembled kids. “We’re going to start getting you into your classrooms now! First, can everybody in year six please follow Miss Cook here–”  
  
“Ooooooh, classtime! I guess I’ll see you later, Blanche,” Sean said, patting Blanche’s shoulder.  
  
“See you, Sparky,” Blanche said as the Kangaskhan called for the year fives to follow Miss Grant. They still didn’t really understand what they were supposed to get out of school yet, but at least they’d already gotten a friend.   
  
A friend who could possibly get them cool coats. 


	26. Day 26: Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About the author.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Today is questioning gay! ...Fuck, I meant questioning day (and i legit typoed that initially, but i left it because, uh, yeah??) but this works out because, uh, yeah, that's more or less what it is. This day goes out to all of those people whose sexuality or gender identity is a great big giant fucking question mark. I've been there, buds. It do be like that sometimes. Exploring your sexuality or gender is worthwhile to get to know yourself as a person better, and better figure out what you like and what you are like. Even if you end up back in the place where you started, you've broadened your horizons, and I think that's beautiful."
> 
>  
> 
> Hey so extra important thing about today is that this is not fanfic. I was hesitant to add it to this collection for a while, but it's a personal piece, written because I actually only just STOPPED questioning my sexuality after more than a decade, and I wanted to share that ride for anybody out there who had questions of their own, because part of my struggle was simply not seeing myself anywhere. Things are different these days, of course, and that's a good thing. My journey's pretty intimately tied up with my fandom experiences, so, y'know, prepare for some nerding. 
> 
> Warnings for internalized homophobia, external homophobia, brief whizzby suicidal mention, some mental illness stuff.

You love hockey day, not so much for the sport itself but for being part of the team. None of your bullies are on the team, and girls who generally ignore you actually notice you, treat you like one of them. It’s almost like having friends.

The changing room is hell, though.

Focus on the wall and changing your own clothes, don’t look around, especially don’t look at  _her_ , even though your ears are attuned to every word she says and in class you can’t stop staring at her beautiful hair and her amazing skin that’s darker than all the other peely-wally Scots around here and  _never_  gets any spots and her super pretty smile–Don’t look!

What are you, some kinda creepy lesbo? Gross.

You’re not. You’re Team Jacob, right? Can’t be some gross lesbo if you like Taylor Lautner’s abs and arms (pecs are a bit weird though).

You can’t stop wanting to look at her.

Don’t look.

~~~

The Doctor going to World War II is _so cool_. You’re clutching a pillow to hide behind in case the creepy kid in the gas mask comes back, but you’re rapt as you watch the Doctor and Rose reunite and meet Jack and they have such easy camraderie and–

> JACK: There it is. Hey, they’ve got Algy on duty. It must be important.   
> DOCTOR: We’ve got to get past him.   
> ROSE: Are the words “distract the guard” heading in my general direction?   
> JACK: I don’t think that’d be such a good idea.   
> ROSE: Don’t worry, I can handle it.   
> JACK: I’ve got to know Algy quite well since I’ve been in town. Trust me, you’re not his type. I’ll distract him. Don’t wait up.   
> DOCTOR: Relax, he’s a fifty first century guy. He’s just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing.   
> ROSE: How flexible?   
> DOCTOR: Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy.   
> ROSE: Meaning?   
> DOCTOR: So many species, so little time.   
> ROSE: What, that’s what we do when we get out there? That’s our mission? We seek new life, and, and…   
> DOCTOR: Dance.

Jack likes men too? Likes  _both_?

That’s  _allowed_?

The Doctor seems to think it’s fine. Says it’s  _normal_  in the future, even.

It’s  _okay_  to like both.

~~~

“John Barrowman’s gay, you know,” your mum says. “It was obvious he was a great actor as soon as he came out, because he’d been kissing women onstage and looking like he liked it!”

Have your parents ever talked about gay people before? It’s a surprise to hear. But they seem to be okay with it.

~~~

Wait, SesshoMaru’s a  _man_?

He’s your first ever anime crush a short while after. You keep having to explain to people who see the printouts you stick to your jotters that he’s a man.

~~~

You find the Esmeralda figurine while cleaning out your cupboard. You’ve never seen  _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_  in full, because it always terrified you too much, but you’ve always loved Esmeralda. For a long time, you carried this figurine with you everywhere you went, this cheap little plastic thing of her in that red dress from the scene where she dances.

You put it on your desk. It’s still really pretty.

~~You see the movie in full for the first time when you’re nineteen and–was she POLEDANCING?!~~

~~~

Kurama’s a man too?!

All of your anime crushes are very beautiful, feminine-looking men. This probably doesn’t mean anything.

~~~

One of your online friends sends you a slashfic she really likes. You’re shocked to see that it’s rated K. But slash is all M-rated, stuff you have to lie to FFnet about your age to read with flaming cheeks and frantic looks over your shoulder in case your parents came home early, until you lose your nerve and skim past the dirtiest bits. How can this be slash?

It’s about Shinichi and Kaito, lots of little oneshots, some only a couple hundred words long. They hold hands and eat ice cream and watch movies and kiss, sometimes, and that’s it. They’re  _so_  cute and funny and sweet and…

Not dirty. Just like a normal relationship.

~~~

You’ve never imagined your wedding day. One of these days you’ll do everybody a favour and kill yourself, so it’s not like you’ll live long enough to see it.

~~~

You suck up sweet, fluffy M/M fics like oxygen. You’ve never seen an F/F fic.

~~~

No, Mum, I don’t have a boyfriend, I was walking with A. You know A. He’s… he’s gay.

Of course you already knew that.

No, I don’t have a boyfriend.

You don’t really want a boyfriend. Dating sounds stressful. You’re happy enough with your friends, now that you have some, you tight-knit band of Weird Kids who hide in the library all lunchtime and make plans to go see the next Harry Potter movie together or spend the weekend at somebody’s house watching movies and playing Mario Kart until 5am while eating too much pizza and drinking smuggled vodka in fizzy drinks. If you mix vodka and Irn Bru, you  _definitely_ won’t get a hangover, honest.

You’re too scared to ask a girl out. She’d think you’re gross.

~~~

~~Over the next decade, every single one of the weird kids will turn out to be gay, bi, or trans [i]and[/i] gay. Birds of a feather boa, K says with a laugh at age 24.~~

~~~

All the outfit options for female sims are just plain  _better._  And the hair options. The faces are better, too. You have a whole neighbourhood that’s just ladies, who married ladies, because you can do that in the sims, and adopted girls, because then you don’t need any guys around.

~~You find this save data while transferring computers and, on a nostalgic whim, re-installing Sims 2 at age 21. You are stunned that you ever convinced yourself that this was a heterosexual way to play a video game.~~

~~~

P!nk’s been your favourite musician since you were 13. Amusingly, it was  _Conversations With My 13-Year-Old Self_  that made you realize how much she speaks to you. Now, after years of loving her music, her acrobatic performances, you’re going to  _see her live_.

You keep staring at women in the crowd. Women wearing denim jackets, and button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up, and short hair. “Look at all these dykes,” your cousin, who drove you here, scoffs.

You think they look great.

~~~

You want to travel before you go to university, so you cut your hair off and donate it to charity to raise money. You haven’t had it short since you were  _born,_  and you lose two and a half feet. You can’t stop running your hands over the back of it, spiking up the newly-short strands.

You  _love_  it.

~~~

While you’re in India, your parents phone and ask if A can stay in your room. His grandparents kept telling him to kill himself so he left home instead. You have them give the phone to him and ask him to take good care of your books and tell him that he’s okay, he’s a good person, he’s a good friend, there’s nothing wrong with being gay.

There’s nothing wrong with being gay.

Have you ever said that aloud before?

~~~

 _Monstrous Regiment_  is one of the books you brought with you. You lose count of how often you reread it. It isn’t explicitly stated, but Tonker and Lofty are definitely in love.

It makes you happy, to see women who love women on the Discworld. You start another reread.

~~~

There’s an anime society at your new university. The captain’s got a  _gross_ amount of lolicon anime on his hard drive and doesn’t like letting anybody else pick what to watch, so mostly you and a couple of other girls (women, you’re at university, you can legally drink now, you’re women now, right?) end up mocking whatever creepy shit he puts up together, complaining about the unrealistic proportions of the anime women.

“Any more than a handful’s a waste,” the nursing student scoffs. She’s a lesbian. She’s also Irish, and very much not out to her family.

You like her secretly, and keep it that way.

~~~

The Pride parade goes right past your new job, and on your lunch break, too. You watch them go by, all the flags, all the colours, everybody so happy and brave and defiant and proud.

There’s a wankstain with a megaphone in front of Parliament, yelling about how they’re all going to Hell for having sex outside of marriage.

“LET US GET MARRIED, THEN!” the crowd yells, and keeps dancing.

~~~

Your mother’s side of the family don’t like this uncle much. You join them wholeheartedly when he starts talking about conversion therapy, how kids who “think” they’re gay are “sick”, and need “help”–

He has to be hustled out to his car and told to go home early because you can’t stop shouting at him to shut the fuck up, there’s nothing wrong with those kids, how fucking  _dare_  he advocate their torture, there’s  _nothing wrong with being gay, being gay is **beautiful–**_

You’ve never said that before, but you feel it wholeheartedly.

~~~

You work Saturdays and Sundays, so you can never go to Pride. You make yourself a bracelet in purple, pink and blue, the bi colours, and never take it off. It makes you feel a little braver, even if most people who see it won’t think the colours mean anything.

~~~

Your brother’s in America so the two of you set up a video call to watch the  _Legend of Korra_  finale together, and it’s  _amazing_ , mindblowing animation, incredible story, and you crack some jokes about how Asami and Korra have been for the past couple seasons. It’s a cartoon, so obviously they’d never actually be allowed to hook up, but it’s fun to imagine. The queerbaiting gets a little tiring, maybe. You’ve just learned what queerbaiting is. It’s why Dean and Cas will never kiss onscreen even though they SHOULD.

Then Asami and Korra talk and man, this keeps getting gayer. And  _gayer._ And

They hold hands, and look into each other’s eyes, and it’s the final shot of the show, an undeniable mirror of the finale shot of  _The Last Airbender_ right before Aang and Katara kiss, and Asami and Korra don’t kiss, but Bryan Konietzko’s online right nowstressing that KORRASAMI IS REAL and they would’ve kissed if the network had let them

And then your phone’s ringing because you’re crying so hard that you dropped your laptop and didn’t notice and your brother’s worried, and you can’t stop crying, you’re so  _happy._

You’re  _so_  happy.

~~~

“They’re for real lesbians. They actually SAY they’re in love!”

You immediately put on the first episode of  _Steven Universe_.

~~~

You run into your chiropractor at Pride with her wife. They’re wearing rainbow flags and wedding rings and big smiles. She’s been looking after your fucked-up feet since you were eight and you never knew. Of course, she’s under no obligation to tell her patients about her personal life, but.

You could’ve known all along that this was what a lesbian looked like, this kind, funny, successful, professional woman.

~~~

Holy shit, there are female romance options in this game that you can romance  _while female._

Why are they all so much more attractive than the male options?

~~~

Your group is doing  _Huis Clos_  for your end of year performance and you’re Ines. You don’t normally like makeup but you  _love_  doing up your hair and eyes and red lipstick and silk blouse and striding onstage in heels to mock Joseph and Estelle for refusing to admit that they’re in Hell and deserve to be, to talk proudly about how you murdered your cousin and seduced his wife, to try to seduce Estelle and laugh when she can’t kill you

By third year you’re joking that your acting resume is going to be all men and lesbians.

~~~

Yes, this is the third time I’ve watched  _The Devil Wears Prada_  this week. I have essays to work on, and it’s a comfort watch, y’know?

I dunno. Meryl Streep’s really good in it. I mean, Miranda’s an awful person, but she’s so powerful that you end up liking her anyway, y’know? She’s mesmerising.

~~~

Who the hell cancelled  _Agent Carter_?  _Supernatural_ has a thousand seasons and not one single scene of Hayley Atwell in a gorgeous retro suit beating the teeth out of somebody with the nearest thing she can grab.

~~You most definitely have a type~~

~~~

No, being bisexual does  _not_ mean that you’re gay and scared to admit it.

You have this conversation a _lot_.

~~~

People keep telling you to get a Japanese boyfriend to teach you. There must be better reasons to have a boyfriend. Do you even want a boyfriend, really?

~~~

Why the  _fuck_  did nobody ever tip you off that Batman has an amazing lesbian cousin and where the fuck is her movie where she gets to make out with Anne Hathaway?!

~~~

Your friend is mocking her boyfriend having a gay panic over her asking him if he agrees that Idris Elba is attractive. Finding Idris Elba attractive doesn’t mean you’re gay, she scoffs, it just means you have eyes. You agree, laughing.

You don’t have to be attracted to men to see when they’re attractive.

~~~

Sure, Chris Pine is very pretty, especially when he’s naked. But Gal Gadot throwing an armoured car with her hands? That damn near physically knocks you out of your seat. You transcended your body around the time Wonder Woman went over the top but from the first moments in Themyscira your whole body’s been tingling and your higher brain functions have been DOWN. You’re shaking so hard when you come out of the cinema that you can barely use your railcard, and you can’t sleep until 5am, too busy crying from exhilaration and screaming about the movie to your brother.

Is that what attraction is always supposed to feel like? Something you’ve never felt for a woman in an impractical costume being cut up by the camera, or for any man, anywhere, ever, doing or wearing anything at all?

~~~

Tessa Thompson also tears apart armoured vehicles with her hands, and Cate Blanchett has this  _way_ of sweeping back her hair into a horned helmet, and who the fuck decided women over 30 aren’t sexy?!

You almost miss Chris Hemsworth’s shirtless scene entirely. It’s nice enough. You forget it entirely when Valkyrie gets behind that gun.

~~~

If you tell people you’re a lesbian now, they’re gonna think all bi women are just closeted lesbians.

~~~

But you remember how terrified you were that you were gay. And, a decade and a half later, you think: so what?

What if I was?

What if I am?

~~~

There is literally a neon rainbow sign over your boarding house, advertising the neon company next door. That is LITERALLY a sign, right there.

~~~

You think it, inside your head, trying the thought on for size.

I’m a lesbian.

You never knew you were suffocating until you took your first breath of air.

~~~

You have your first ever wedding fantasy at 25, and start crying in public over how beautiful your hypothetical bride looks in her dress.

~~~

Are you butch? Do you have to be butch to want to wear a waistcoat and kilt to your own wedding? This is a whole new avenue of exploration but also you  _so_  want your own kilt.

~~~

You tell your parents over video chat. They’re as supportive as you always knew they would be, but disappointed you don’t have a girlfriend.

You’ve gotta stay stealth if you want to keep your job. You’re in Japan, after all, and it’s been warned to new recruits to the company that the Japanese upper management are all very old-fashioned. If you lose your job, you could lose your visa. This is not presently actionable intel, just good to have.

But you don’t feel gross, or afraid. Just frustrated that you can’t scream it from the rooftops.

~~~

Your brother sends you some pictures of Gal Gadot in a suit for the two of you to thirst over together. He’s the best.

~~~

You actually sing  _Heaven Is A Place On Earth_  at karaoke and then your new coworker asks if you have a boyfriend.

_Seriously._

~~~

Your manager is so damn pretty, but she’s Japanese. But she’s so damn pretty, and nice.

Don’t look.

Not because it’s gross. Because you want to keep your job.

~~~

Somebody describes Meryl Streep’s performance in  _The Devil Wears Prada_  as  _seductive_ and ah-ha. Of course. A powerful and influential businesswoman who has Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt in nice outfits trailing her everywhere she goes. She goes to a ball halfway through the film with two beautiful young women on her arms. Lesbian power fantasy or WHAT?

You watch it again, and notice for the first time that after Andie’s makeover, when she turns to leave the office, Miranda checks out her ass.

~~~

You want to go back to your twelve-year-old self and give her Alex Danvers, and Kate Kane, and Tonker and Lofty, and Ruby and Sapphire, and Kate McKinnon, and J the chiropractor and her wife, and tell her: this is you.

You’re okay. You always were.

~~~

Oh, you are  _definitely_  buying one of those rainbow shirts at Disneyland.

~~~

There’s nothing wrong with you.

Your feet are still pretty fucked up, and so are your knees now, after all that sitting seiza, and your eyes have always been spitting distance from legally blind, and you still have that gut problem, and you’re 25 and still get acne, and your brain’s pretty messed up on anxiety and depression

But that’s all bits. There’s nothing wrong with  _you_.

You are gay, in every sense of the word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and if you're on your own journey, you're gonna be okay. It might be impossible to see the way out from where you are. It was for me, most of the time. But I'm still here, and one day you will be too, finally comfortable and finally you.


	27. Day 27: Homoromantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaz talks to one of his daughters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "To explain why we have a day for gay and a day for homoromantic (and biromantic and panromantic,) we need to go into the fact that sexual and romantic attraction are two different things. It's possible to be romantically attracted to someone but not sexually, and vice versa! So the days celebrating romantic orientation are important to everybody whose sexual and romantic orientations differ."

“Hey, Dad? Can I ask you something?”  
  
“What is it?” Chaz said, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the youngest Charmander who were having their afternoon naps curled up in the circle of his tail. Callista was one of his older daughters, but because she was very non-confrontational, she still hadn’t evolved into a Charizard.  
  
Their caves and valley were steadily being covered in her decorative carvings, though. All she needed in her life was Steel Claw and clear weather to carve by.   
  
“You’re our dad because you raise us, even though we were all made in a lab,” Callista stated.  
  
“Well, most of you have some of me in you,” Chaz said. He’d given up trying to understand how they made babies from his scale and skin samples, and settled for being grateful that they did. “But yeah. That’s what matters. I’m your dad because I raise you.” He leaned down to nuzzle her small red head. “And nothing makes me happier.”  
  
“I know, you old sap,” Callista giggled. “I just wondered… if a lady Charizard wanted to come live here, would she be your mate?”  
  
“Um,” Chaz said, flexing his wings a little as he thought. He was really hoping that the whole thing about being made in a lab would allow him to bypass this conversation, but apparently not. And most of Callista’s siblings from her clutch  _were_  Charizard now. “Probably not. If she wanted to help raise all the little ones and be a mother to you all, that’d be great, but she wouldn’t be my mate.”  
  
“What about a  _guy_  Charizard?” Callista said shrewdly.   
  
“…Maybe. Sorta. Not everybody really  _wants_  a mate, you know,” he added.   
  
“You don’t?” Callista asked, her nose twitching when she looked up. That was… interesting. She was  _happy_  to hear that? “I mean, Cally and Cahil and Chico, and, well, everybody who’s already evolved, they talk about finding mates, and I thought maybe it was just because I hadn’t evolved yet that I don’t care, but Calliope keeps talking about wanting to evolve so she can fly off and find one…”  
  
This… was news to Chaz. Of course, Chars were almost fully independent once they were Charmeleon, and Professor Oak had assured him that, according to historical research on wild Chars, fully-evolved Charizard living solitary lives save for their mates and own young was quite normal. But he couldn’t  _stop_ being their dad. “It’s not about how evolved you are,” he assured her. “It’s about who you are and what you want. And it’s perfectly valid not to want a mate.”  
  
“…What about somebody to snuggle who isn’t related to me?” Callista said after a moment. “Not a  _mate_ , just… a snuggle buddy? Snuggles are nice.”  
  
“They certainly are,” Chaz said, wrapping his neck around her for dad-snuggles that still made her giggle like a ‘mander.  
  
“ _Daaaaaaaaaaad_ ,” she said as she hopped up onto his back and curled up in the best nap spot, just between his wings. “Have you ever  _had_  a snuggle-buddy?”  
  
“I didn’t really think about that kind of thing when I was travelling with Saylee,” Chaz said. _Maybe I should have._  “And ever since, I’ve been pretty focused on you guys.”  
  
“You should find a snuggle buddy,” Callista yawned. “You make a good pillow.”  
  
“…Thanks?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that the A isn't for Ally, it's for After Armageddon, the story of two ace-spectrum folks bringing down wrath across Kanto, who knew


	28. Day 28: Biromantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Godin muses on his relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Not too much to explain, since we already got at the concept of romantic/sexual interest, and the concept of bisexuality seems pretty simple to me."
> 
>  
> 
> Also anybody notice those extremely subtle AA expies that Key and I put in Dimensional Destruction and made canonically gay? This is fanfic within fanfic

Sometimes, Godin marvelled at how perfect he and Milo were for each other, and wished it hadn’t taken them so long to notice. They’d never had a meal out together punctuated by a single awkward silence, which you’d think would happen, since surely sooner or later two people who saw each other as much as they did would run out of conversation  _sometime_? Apparently not. And they could spend hours cuddling and watching movies or marathoning a new show in a companionable and completely comfortable silence, as close and as comfortable as if they were extensions of each other.

Their relationship was low on visibility, which professionally was for the best, but there was no doubt in Godin’s mind that he wanted to have this man in his arms for the entire rest of his natural-born life. His personal phone’s background was still a picture he’d been quick to snap of Milo’s smile the first time Godin’s kids had called him “Papa” (though these days, they preferred “Pops”, the grown-up sixteen-year-olds that they were).

Sometimes, it hurt to remember  _why_  Milo was so much more comfortable in a relationship where nothing was expected of him sexually, where he could be romantic without being physical, but he was more than enough for Godin as he was, everything that was beautiful about him still clear to Godin’s eyes even if Milo himself thought of himself as damaged beyond repair.

And after a string of girlfriends and boyfriends leaving in upset or disgust when Godin didn’t want to make things more physical, it meant the world to him to finally be  _enough_  for somebody else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ACE Attorney or what amirite


	29. Day 29: Panromantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looker discusses his daughters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There isn't even an explanation for panromantic, because after the last few days, it's a pretty straightforward concept, right

“Is it that time already?” Looker said, checking his bare wrist theatrically when Emma bounced downstairs with her nice bag swinging on her shoulder, Mimi giggling as she leaned out from under the flap and enjoyed the ride.

“You always know what time it is,” Emma giggled, checking her hair in the hall mirror. There was no real way to  _stop_  it from being messy, but she’d cultivated a grungy look with ripped jeans and tank top layers that made it look  _artfully_ messy.

“You’re going out?” Jenny said, setting down her coffee cup. “Is it the same guy as yesterday?”

“Naw, I’m going out with an enby called Sora, we’re going to a concert,” Emma said, rearranging a few messy strands then running over to kiss her dad and sister on the cheek on her way to the door.

“Be back by one!” Looker called after her.

“Will do! Love you! See you!” Emma called, waving as she headed out the front door.

“Not a word from you, miss ‘a different girl every night’,” Looker said, pointing at Jenny with a raised eyebrow.

“That only happened, like, twice,” Jenny protested, “and I was… well, about her age, I guess. I feel like you nagged me a little more, though.”

“Well… she may not be a police-officer-in-training like you, but she is a  _very_ accomplished vigilante who is very strong in the will, so there will be no problem partners,” Looker mused. “Also, she is not interested in, how should I say… the more physical things?”

“Oh my god, I am  _so_  glad you chose to say it like that,” Jenny sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. “She’s ace?”

“But VERY romantic,” Looker said with a grin. “She loves all very much! But not  _too_  much. I think most of her dates are friends, though, who all understand and care about each other well. This one I think is a tourist.”

“Does she see a lot of tourists?” Jenny asked, picking her coffee back up. Eighteen suddenly felt like  _such_  a long time ago.  _Angela would_  NEVER  _have said yes if she’d known me at that age._

“Oh, yes, because many who come to Lumiose, they are here for the fun times, you see?” Looker explained. “So on the dating apps, they find a person to who they can talk and who knows of the fun time places well, and they date! Emma has very many interesting friends in many interesting places in this way, for she is very good at languages.”

“Like father, like daughter,” Jenny teased, just to see the happy twinkle in her father’s eyes.


	30. Day 30: Asexual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unwritten scroll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimcloud: "Aromantics are like asexuals, but I need to stress again that aromantic and asexual don't need to go hand in hand. You can be aromantic but still have a sexual preference, you can be asexual but have a romantic preference, or you can be both asexual and aromantic, but they are definitely not the same thing."

The Watcher asks me, sometimes, if that now that I am full grown, I will leave to seek a mate. She seems to understand that I will not, for I have been born and bred to fight and defend my human and it is a duty that I enjoy and take pride in. Less does she understand that I have no desires otherwise. It seems to me that the purpose of finding a mate is to create and rear children. I already have my human, who seemed so large when we first met and now I see to be so small and so, so fragile. I have also the Little One, filled with a power I do not yet understand, yet who remains small and content to be in my human’s arms. They have neither mother or father, but they have me.  
  
I will protect them, always. I need nothing else than that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's the month! This was a hell of a lot of fun to participate in and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I do apologize to anybody who was subscribed to me over the two days that I put these up on AO3.

**Author's Note:**

> So on the nuzlocke forums, the fantastic Jimcloud ran a thirty-day, thirty-prompt writing challenge for Pride Month 2018, and I ran a perfect streak, a drabble a day! These are mostly very short and self-contained and the gender or sexuality represented within will be in the title since it's not always obvious infic. If I'm representing anything badly, please let me know! I learned a lot this month and I'm always open to learning more and representing people better!


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